This Is How You Remind Me
by Gwaed Emrallt
Summary: Modern Day Fic. 15 Year old Naruto is an orphan shunned by everyone, expelled from every school. He's now starting a new school, Konoha High, and it's his last chance. [Maybe future SasuNaru.] Read and Review?
1. Chapter 1: I Walk Alone

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, that is Masashi Kishimoto's privilage!

**Summary:** Modern Day Fic. 15 Year old Naruto is an orphan shunned by everyone, expelled from every school. He's now starting a new school, Konoha High, and it's his last chance. - _I know, a stereotypical Highschool Fic, but, meh, don't like, don't read._

**Warnings:** Maybe future SasuNaru, but only light shonen-ai. So if you don't like that stuff, please steer clear, as I won't tollerate flames when I've pre-warned you! May be angsty in some places, but I'm trying to set the fic in lots of genres! Um, death. Certainly mentions of death and violence, heh...I think that's it!

**_A/N: Hey Minna! This is my first FanFic, let alone Naruto one, so please go easy on me! I don't have a beta, so please excuse any mistakes! I would like constructive criticism, as I do really wish to improve my writing!_**

**_Oh, and this fic is set in modern day times in the UK, so if you are confused by the school system, sorry! Now, I've bored you long enough! Please read, and I hope you enjoy!_**

**This is How You Remind Me.**

**Chapter 1: -** **I Walk Alone**

A small boy groggily woke up, an insistent beeping noise shattering any other possibilities. A series of cursed profanities escaped the blurry-eyed teen's mouth and he hit the source of the noise until the deafening bleeping subsided. A groan escaped his lips as he stared from the time to his calendar. Today would be the first day at his new school. This would be the…sixth school he had attended…and that was just the High Schools.

The boy wiped at his face with his hand, brushing the unruly blonde strands of hair from his bright blue eyes. He pulled back the covers and with a swift motion crossed the small bedroom to an even smaller bathroom. The walls were plain, the floors bare and the personal objects littering the walls, table and shelves were in short supply, but somehow, the place felt snug, homely even. As the boy padded into the bathroom, he shivered at the cold contact the tiles had with his bare feet. Eyes still half closed, he blindly reached for his toothbrush, starting the morning routine.

His mouth fully refreshed, he cupped his hands under the running tap, bracing himself. The ice-cold water met with the warm, tanned face and he hissed, fully awake now. Looking up into the mirror he scrunched his eyes up and clutched his head.

_Great, _another_ headache._

Rummaging inside the cabinet in the corner of the small room, he grabbed a box taking out two tablets. Grabbing a nearby glass, he filled it with water and downed it, along with the tablets. Looking at the box for a few more seconds, he clutched it tightly and took it back to the bedroom, zipping it safely away in his bag, decision made.

He looked at the clock, flashing its time and cursed.

_How'd I manage to waste so much time?_

Quickly jumping into some loose-fitting jeans, long-sleeved orange t-shirt accompanied by blue hoody and blue chucks, he grabbed his messenger bag, slinging it hurriedly over his shoulder. He sprinted out the door of his small apartment, locked it, and took off, running in the general direction of Konoha High.

_Damn! Great first impression, Naruto!_

**-Flashback Type Thing-**

Yes, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, vertically challenged, 15 year old boy was named Uzumaki Naruto. He lived alone in a small apartment, because he had no family. Well, none that he knew of, anyway. His parents had died when he was young, around the age of 5. His mum had been a well-known and loved doctor, who'd saved countless lives; his father a fireman, also known for his sheer courage and lives he'd saved. All in all a well-respected family, a family who had high expectations for their son. Until the accident: a car crash. They'd been on a family outing, celebrating Naruto's first day of school when it happened. A lorry had appeared from nowhere, driving on the wrong side of the road. Naruto's dad had braked, but the roads were wet from a previous rainfall, and there was no embankment for him to drive up to get the car out the way. The last Naruto can remember of that day is his dad's sad smile and his mum's hand grasping his own.

He was the only survivor. The lorry driver and both his respected, admired…_loved_ parents died instantly. Naruto had woken up in hospital 3 weeks later, disorientated. After he learned what had happened he coped with it the only way he could. He denied. He didn't, _couldn't_ believe that a car crash would kill his parents.

However, the young boy's denial soon turned to belief as he waited and waited for one of them to come see him. Their face in a grin, saying it was all a joke; they'd only been kept at work. But it never happened.

After leaving the hospital, Naruto was put in a local orphanage; after all, he had no known family left. During his orphanage years, as the five year old grew up, his belief turned to acceptance, and only with this was he able to smile once again. However, he kept being transferred from one orphanage to another. He didn't know why at first. He was confused by all the hating glares, or fearful glances. That was, until his 8th birthday. Someone finally told him; explained what he didn't understand, why he didn't know the reasons behind the stares and the transfers. He couldn't remember much after that day. Every day was a routine.

At the age of 14 he was given the chance to leave the orphanage; no others would take him in. He was told about some money left to him by his parents in their will. With this he rented a local apartment. But just like before, he had to keep moving, as he was expelled – sooner or later - from all schools he attended. He did make friends, but they too became scared of him and that hurt the most.

This was his most recent apartment and school; he'd been here since the first few weeks of the summer and had set about getting a job, after all, his parent's money wouldn't last forever.

**-End Of Flashback Thing-**

Naruto came to an abrupt halt and gaped at the school in front of him. He didn't remember the journey; he was lost in his thoughts the whole way. Swallowing a nervous gulp, Naruto ran a cold hand through his wind-swept hair and hesitantly made his way inside the gates.

_You can do this! You can stick it out here. No matter what, you can't – no – _won't _get expelled; it's your final chance to prove yourself! _


	2. Chapter 2: Thank You

**Disclaimer: **Again, I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does!

**_A/N: Thank you for the review, it made me so happy to get one, heh And yes, I'm still using Japanese suffixes, because we don't know Tsunade's surname, and it wouldn't sound right saying 'Mrs Tsunade'. So, all teachers will have _'Name'-_Sensei as their names Well, on with the fic!_**

**This is How You Remind Me.**

**Chapter 2: -** **Thank You**

Naruto pushed open the glass door and turned left, finding himself in front of a door labelled 'Reception'. He knocked tentatively and heard a distinct "Come in!" Shuffling nervously, he pushed the door open.

"Um, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, the, uh, new student!" A young woman with medium length brown hair and warm eyes looked up at him from her desk.

"Ah! Naruto! We've been expecting you! I'll just go get Tsunade-Sama! Wait right here." The woman smiled politely and strode from the room.

Naruto glanced around the room; taking in the desk equipped with computer, phone and a stack of neatly arranged papers. Looking further, he saw a set of shelves holding red cases, each with a year, form and teacher's name on.

_Registers?_

A noise by the door caught his attention and he turned to see it opening.

"Ah, hello Uzumaki! Finally shown, eh? Well, you'd better follow me, we have some_ things_ to discuss." A blonde-haired, young and _curvy_ looking woman stood in the doorway, hands on hips and a meaningful stare on her face.

"Yes!" Naruto gulped at the penetrating look and rushed forwards.

"That will be all, thank you Shizune!" Tsunade stated to the receptionist, then led Naruto down a narrow hall, to a door with 'Head Teacher' written on it. Tsunade ushered the young boy inside and directed him to a chair. She took the one facing opposite, behind her desk. Naruto watched as she placed her elbows on the table, knitted her hands together, and finally rested her head on her hands, whilst giving him a calculating look. Naruto's attention flickered to a small clock, ticking away loudly, filling the silence of the room. However, his attention snapped back to Tsunade as she spoke.

"Naruto." He looked up and met her chocolate-eyed stare.

"As you know I am head teacher and also school nurse, therefore, I know of your _condition_. I allowed you to come here because I want to help you with this, but I'm afraid, if there are any serious _issues_, for health and safety of both the school and yourself, you will be excluded indefinitely. You will not be allowed to transfer, someone will have to be watching you 24/7 and you will most likely lose your freedom. So basically, this is your last chance. On a lighter note, this will only happen in the case something major ensues, I however do not want that to happen and therefore will help you as much as possible! Never feel like you can't come to me. Remember, stay out of situations that could trigger certain reactions and if you ever feel _it_ coming on, come straight here. I have notified other teachers, so don't worry about having to explain yourself. Here's your timetable. I have taken the liberty of pulling you out of French, so you will come here instead for check-ups. I know you did Japanese in your last school, therefore, for your last compulsory year, I do not believe starting a brand new language will be necessary. Now, any questions?" The young-looking woman smiled warmly at the boy.

Naruto had his eyebrows furrowed, taking in all the information.

_My last chance…I won't give up!_

"I won't give up!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed, making the head teacher start, before grinning at him.

"Yosh! That's the spirit! Now, let's get you to your form room. I think the morning form session's nearly over!"

Naruto looked at the smiling face of his teacher, then looked down at his lap, blonde hair covering his eyes.

"Thank you Tsunade." The head teacher looked taken aback by the sudden change with the boy. He was definitely full of surprises.

"Yes, yes, but it's Tsunade-Sama to you!" She flashed him a smile and he returned a fox-grin.

"Now Naruto, let's go!" Tsunade stood, Naruto following suit. She strode down another hallway, down a flight of stairs, turned left, down another corridor, and finally stopping outside a door on her right. Naruto frowned.

_How am I supposed to remember where to go? This school is huge!_

Tsunade opened the door and walked in. In her left hand she caught a paper aeroplane, without even looking, and bellowed "INUZUKA! My room 1 'o' clock _detention_!"

A brown haired boy in the back groaned and the class fell silent. Naruto stood before the doorway, already nervous.

_No, I can't get nervous!_

Tsunade looked around the room and nodded to the silver-haired teacher lounging behind the desk. The first thing Naruto noticed was the mask he wore. It covered his mouth and nose, not to mention his weird silver hair covered one of his eyes.

"Form 11D! If you remember, I informed you of a new student coming to our school. His name is Uzumaki Naruto-" She looked expectantly at the doorway, as did 20 other pairs of eyes. He gulped, scared now.

A pain shot through his head and he clutched it tightly, receiving a few confused stares from the pupils who could see him. Tsunade frowned and walked over to him.

"Naruto. Do you need to go back to my office?"

The boy let go of his head clenched his hands into fists and set Tsunade with a defiant stare.

"No, Tsunade, I can do it." She nodded and led the way back into the classroom. Naruto followed, without wavering.

"Hmm," Tsunade thought, whilst analysing the students. "Shikamaru!"

A boy sat at the back, next to the Inuzuka boy, opened an eye; he'd obviously been sleeping.

"You will show Naruto around. That's all, back to you Kakashi! See you lesson 4 Naruto." With that Tsunade swept from the classroom and all eyes fixed on Naruto.

"Care to introduce yourself?" The silver-haired teacher said lazily from behind his book.

Naruto nodded and stared defiantly at his peers.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I'm 15. This will be the 6th High school I have attended. I love art and music and dislike close-minded people." He finished and smiled at the class. This action seemed to trigger a response and some of the class smiled back.

"Oi! Naruto! Come sit here!" Naruto looked over and saw an animalistic smile from the one known as 'Inuzuka'. He smiled and made his way to the back.

_I'm making new friends, let's hope they stay just that: friends._


	3. Chapter 3: To A Friend

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does. But hopefully I own this plot!

**_A/N - Please read and review! Sorry if nothing much seems to be happening, but I need to introduce everyone first...which is taking a while! Um, yeah, stereotypical High School groups are involved, so if you are offended, please don't read! Well, hope you enjoy!_**

**This is How You Remind Me.**

**Chapter 3: -** **To A Friend**

Naruto walked to the back and slipped into a chair in between 'Inuzuka' and Shikamaru.

"So you've moved six times huh? You must've travelled loads! Parents keep getting transferred, am I right?" Inuzuka grinned, baring his overly pointed canine teeth.

Naruto avoided the boy's eyes trying to think up an excuse.

"Sorry about him. He doesn't have any manners or common sense to _not_ interfere with people's personal lives." Shikamaru spoke up, startling Naruto a bit, as he had believed the lazy teen to be asleep. The brown-haired boy had his head rested on one hand; eyes closed, and didn't seem to be paying any attention to anything.

Naruto laughed at 'Inuzuka's' defiant protests of being 'shown-up in front of the newbie'.

"Eh, it's fine! Oh yeah…what's your name?"

The animal-like boy grinned, "Kiba!"

"Well Kiba, I _have_ moved around a lot, but not because of my parents. We just like change." He smiled.

A loud shrill rang through the classroom and the noise of 20-odd chairs scraping across wooden floorboards soon followed. Naruto followed suit and walked in between Kiba and Shikamaru, who had waited for the whole class to disperse _before_ attempting to move, because, in Shikamaru's own words, "The crowds are too troublesome."

"First lesson is, Option 1. Which in your case, Naruto, is Music. Hmm…Ino has Music, she can be your guide there." Shikamaru calculated, looking from Naruto's timetable in his hands, to the sea of heads in front.

"Oi! Ino!" Kiba grinned, yelling at a blonde-haired girl chatting away with a pink-haired girl.

Said girl smiled and waved them all over.

"Hey guys! Oh my _God_! Can you believe Mrs Hill is pregnant? It's gonna be so annoying having to have idiotic subs for Fr-" She cut off as she finally noticed the new face, listening to her story with interest.

"Ah, hello! You new? I'm Yamanaka Ino! This is Haruno Sakura!" The pink-haired girl spared a quick smile, but then looked away, finding some more girls to chat with.

"Yeah Ino, this is Naruto, he has Music now and we were hoping you could show him where to go." Shikamaru stated, glad that she'd finished her ramblings.

"Oh sure! Come on Naruto; you'll love music here! We have Yamato-Sensei and he's so awesome!"

Kiba and Shikamaru grinned at Naruto as they watched the helpless boy being dragged off by the blonde.

Naruto took in his surroundings as he was dragged outside, up 2 sets of steps, through another door, up _another_ set of stairs until they were in a small corridor, stood outside a door marked, 'Music 2'.

_How huge is this place?!_

A few minutes of Ino chatting about the instrument she played – the flute apparently – the door opened.

"Come in, come in!" Ino, Naruto and the other 10 students lined up behind them all filed into class.

Naruto sat himself next to Ino and copied her by taking out his own notebook.

"Oh? A newbie? Well, what's your name? Oh and what instrument shall you be playing?"

"Uzumaki Naruto and I play the piano!" He stated happily. After his answer, the teacher clapped his hands together, obviously pleased.

"Great! Our first male piano player!"

Ino grinned, "Now he'll tell us to stop wasting time and make music! At the moment, we're just meant to be practising pieces of music to be recorded. I don't suppose you brought some with you?"

Naruto shook his head, but laughed with Ino when they heard Yamato-Sensei yell at everyone for wasting time, a suddenly scary face replacing the cheerful one Naruto had been greeted with.

"No worries, we can go find you a book in the store room; there's tons! You're bound to find something you like." Ino led the way out of the classroom as most occupants grappled for the many guitars situated around the room.

"Most everyone plays guitar. Yamato-Sensei plays loads of instruments – it really is quite amazing – but he says he prefers woodwind. You're the…third piano player, there's one flute player – me – and a violin player, Hinata. Ooh, speak of the devil! Hey Hinata!" They'd almost crashed into a small, dark blue-haired girl. Her eyes were a pale grey colour and wide, making it hard to define the iris from the normal white of the eyeball.

"H…hello Ino."

Ino gestured to Naruto. "This is Naruto, he's new here and I'm showing him the ropes of Music class."

Naruto grinned, "Hey! So you play the violin right? Awesome! I did once, in my first school, but, heh, I kind of gave up." He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey! You never told me you played the violin!" Ino poked his shoulder.

"You didn't ask!"

Hinata smiled – and blushed – at the two arguing; Naruto seemed to fit right in.

"A…ano, were you wanting t…to go in the s…store?" Ino blinked, realising Hinata was still there.

"Ah, yes. Your piano book Naruto." Ino ran into the small room, filled with instruments, music stands, electronic equipment, and boxes full of sheet music and music books.

"Naruto?" Ino asked, as she pulled out a random blue box in the corner, "What grade are you on?" Naruto heard her voice float through the open door.

"Uh, well, I'm not really doing any grades, I kind of, teach myself…" He grinned, flashing Hinata and Ino with his fox-grin.

"Hmm…Okay! I have the perfect book for you!" Ino exclaimed, holding out a pale green book.

Naruto took it, flicking through and finding a whole range of pieces, from classical, to pop, to carols.

"Lets go in the practice room; there's a spare piano in there, and I won't bother anyone with my flute playing!" Ino laughed as she picked up a small case next to her, walking out of the room and into the one next to it.

"Plus, I wanna hear how well you play the piano." She smirked at Naruto, and looked towards Hinata. "Come on Hinata, join us!"

Hinata blushed a deep shade of red, "I w…wouldn't want to i…impose-"

"-Nonsense! Come on!" Ino cut her off and forced the timid girl into the room.

Naruto sat down at the piano, running his fingers over the keys. He wished he could have a piano of his own, but they cost too much. That was why he didn't try to take lessons; it would discourage the teacher if he didn't practice. However, Naruto did have a friend who worked at a music shop, and whenever he could he would go down and play on some of the pianos there.

"Well, go on then, play something!" Ino commanded as Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts.

"Umm, okay…" He deadpanned as he flicked through the book, hoping they wouldn't think his piano playing rubbish.

He smiled lightly, as he found 'Fur Elise'; the piece that had gotten him into the piano in the first place.

"Don't yell at me if it's rubbish; I haven't had time to practice…" The two girls nodded, understandingly, and Naruto turned back to the piano.

* * *

Ino walked with Naruto to their next lesson – Biology – talking animatedly, arms waving to accentuate what she was talking about.

"-I still cannot believe how well you play the piano! And after, _3 months_ of not being near a piano, you played like _that_!" She finished, eyes looking wild. Naruto, for one, could say he was beginning to feel slightly scared of the girl.

"It wasn't that good, okay? Now, where are we going?" Naruto said, trying desperately to change the subject.

"Whatever! We're off to Biology now. You're in set 1, right?" When Ino saw Naruto nod she smiled. "Good, 'cause so are most of the gang, and, well, myself."

Naruto gave her a puzzled look. "The gang?"

Ino grinned. "Uh-huh. You'll meet them all at break anyways, but there's Shika and Hinata – who you've already met – Chouji, Lee – Oh, you'll _love_ him - sometimes Tenten and that's about it. We are friends with other groups, but they mostly like to stick to 'their kind'. You see, I'm sorry about this, but we would officially be classed as the 'losers'."

Naruto, however, grinned, surprising Ino a bit.

"Not anymore! With me there, we'll become the ones _everyone_ wants to hang with."

Ino grinned despite herself. "Heh, I'd like to see that. At the moment it seems like the 'emo's' are the most popular. Seriously! The girls absolutely _worship_ them. Then there are the actual 'populars' – Sakura is one of them – and finally the 'skaters'. But they're okay; Kiba's one of them, and they mostly hang out with us." Ino finished.

Naruto stared trying to figure out the groups in his head. It was amazing how every school he went to there were stereotypical groups. He smiled remembering how, by the time he had to leave, everyone knew everyone; the way it should be.

"Oi, Naruto, we're here!" Naruto looked up to see Ino calling back to him…where he'd stopped walking, lost in his thoughts again. He ran to catch up, his black bag hitting his leg every other step.

"Um, who'd you say we had for Biology again?" Naruto asked as they walked up to the door.

"Oh, Orochimaru-Sama. Don't get on the wrong side of him and you'll be fine!" Ino grinned.

As they pushed the door open, a sickly, pale looking man turned to them, his long, black hair following his movements. Naruto looked around the lab benches, seeing them all mostly full already. How late were they?

"Daring to turn up late for my lesson? Well, I'll just have to see you in detention, Miss Yamanaka and Master…Uzumaki."

Naruto looked quickly at the teacher and saw his…_yellow..._eyes searching him. To say he was uncomfortable would have been a huge understatement.

"Now, take your seats before you receive further _punishment_ for your 'rebellious antics'." Naruto shivered at the way he said 'punishment' and found a spare seat next to Kiba.

Great. Ino's only advice was to _not_ get on the wrong side of this Orochimaru-Sama and that pretty much backfired.

_Damn._


	4. Chapter 4: Because Of You

**Disclaimer: **No, I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does -nods-

**_A/N Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews! Very much appreciated! And I'm sorry this wasn't up on Saturday, but I had to go out!_**

**_Sorry if you get confused about some parts in this...but it's meant to happen, 'cause I'm building up to tell you about Naruto's proper past -nods-_**

**_Hope you enjoy! Please read and review! Oh and any suggestions are welcomed! n.n_**

**This is How You Remind Me.**

**Chapter 4: -** **Because Of You**

"Good going Naruto." Kiba whispered to him when Orochimaru had turned around.

"It wasn't my fault! I didn't even know we were late!" He too whispered, but a bit more forcefully.

"Yeah, but you just got yourself detention with the creepiest guy in this place, and it's only your second lesson!"

"I-"

"Master Uzumaki, you again? Well, let's make that break detention a half an hour lunch time one." Orochimaru looked at the boy pointedly, before turning back to what was on the board.

Naruto groaned as Kiba stared in disbelief.

"Man, he must have something against you."

Feeling the need to ignore Kiba, Naruto looked around to get his bearings of the Biology lab.

At the front, there was a desk – equip with computer – and whiteboard, which Orochimaru had scribbled on, seemingly thinking the class would copy it down. On the left of him were glass cupboards full of boring-looking thick books. Labelled cabinets followed the walls round the whole room, proclaiming they contained things such as 'beakers, microscopes, clamp stands, pipettes, burettes, funnels, etc'. On these cabinets, however, is what made Naruto shudder. What seemed to be dead mice, preserved in some sort of liquid, a rabbit's internal organs placed on a board for all to see, an eyeball floating around inside a glass jar…

_What kind of sicko _is_ this guy_?!

He couldn't continue to look at the stuff around the room; it was disgusting. Thankfully, he'd noticed a clock on the wall behind them and proceeded to check the time – out of sight of Orochimaru.

_Ten to Eleven! Ten more minutes…_

He groaned, looking back to the front. However, something caught his eye. Looking back round, he found himself staring into deep, obsidian eyes. Naruto looked from the eyes, to the person. He had dark blue-black hair shaped perfectly round his face; the dark eyes were rimmed with black eyeliner, accentuating his features. The black band t-shirt he wore hugged his lean frame in all the right places. His skin seemed flawless and the palest you'd ever seen and his lips, curved into a patronising smirk. Naruto stopped, eyes wide, realising that that smirk was meant for him. The bastard was almost laughing at him! He scowled at the raven, and turned around, mentally hitting himself for staring.

"Who's that bastard sat two benches behind?" Naruto whispered to Kiba.

"Oh, that'll be Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke. Already figured out he's a bastard? That was fast. But yeah, he's the most popular guy in this school. Heck, I'd be willing to believe he's the most popular guy in other schools too! All the girls are in his fan club…well, almost all the girls. Only Ino, Hinata, Temari and Tenten aren't. Dude, even some _guys_ are in his fan club!" Kiba finished, grumbling slightly about how unfair the world was to him.

…_Temari?_

A few seconds later, the bell rung, and everyone began packing up their books.

"And remember," Orochimaru started, looking at Naruto with a smirk. "Ino, your ten minutes start now, and Naruto, I'll see you at one."

Kiba gave Naruto a pitied glance as he shivered, and they made their way towards the door, towards freedom from the creepy Biology teacher.

* * *

They sat outside the school building, on some deserted steps, waiting for the others to catch up. 

Shikamaru, along with another boy chomping from a packet of BBQ crisps, arrived first, and introductions were made. Naruto was having a fun conversation about wild herbs with the newly named Chouji, when a girl joined their group. She had buns either side of her head and was wearing ¾ length trousers and a pink Chinese-style t-shirt. She too introduced herself and Naruto found himself having a quite scary conversation about…weapons…

Footsteps echoed behind them, announcing another person from the gang. Looking up, Naruto gasped. He'd been right.

"TEMARI?!" Said girl looked straight at him, eyes going wide.

"N…Naruto?!" Naruto jumped up, running forwards and pulled the girl into a bone-crushing hug, which she quickly returned.

After a minute, they pulled out of the hug, and the girl stared at Naruto.

"What are you doing here?!" He grinned and shrugged.

"I got thrown out again, so we had to come here…" Temari frowned at the use of 'we' in the sentence.

"Naruto, stop talking about it as a separate thing." She scolded quietly, knowing that the others wouldn't have found out yet. "You were doing loads better when we left."

Naruto sighed, "Yeah, but then you left…and it's all I had…"

Temari looked at the young boy, who she considered a brother and patted him on the head.

"Don't look so glum! That's not the Naru I know." She laughed. "Plus, there's someone else who wants to say 'hi'!" She stepped aside, and Naruto found Kankuro stood there looking flabbergasted.

"NARUTO?!" Naruto found himself being pounced on this time, and he hugged Kankuro back.

"I-Yo…Ca…-"

"Well, that was inspiring." Temari smirked at her brother's loss for words. Naruto grinned happily; at least one thing didn't change…except for…

"Where's Gaara?" Naruto interjected, looking around.

Temari grinned at him. "He'll be in after lunch, he's gone for a check-up."

Naruto nodded, knowing what she meant.

"He's gonna have a big surprise!" Kankuro laughed, getting out his cat-eared hat to keep his head warm.

The three then turned around…only to meet the surprised and confused gazes of Kiba, Shika, Chouji and Tenten.

Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "We all used to go the same school!"

This piece of information seemed to suffice, however, they all turned their, now amazed, gazes on Temari. Temari raised one eyebrow at their looks, questioningly.

"You _hugged_ someone?!" Kiba asked incredulously. This happy Temari scared him more than the one with the attitude problem.

"Got a problem with it?" She replied, narrowing her eyes as if daring him to. Kiba gulped visibly…maybe he'd spoken…or thought too soon.

"Nope!"

Temari gave a triumphant smile, to which Shikamaru interjected that the whole situation was, "Troublesome."

In truth, Temari couldn't be happier. She had always considered Naruto a brother; because of him, her and Kankuro had their little brother back. It had probably been about two years ago when Naruto first came to their school. He hadn't been able to make many friends, as a lot of people had heard about the accident 13 years ago from their parents and blamed Naruto for surviving. However, it was then that Naruto met Gaara. When Gaara hadn't pushed him away, he continued to talk to him. Gaara had never been the same since their mother's death and all Temari had desperately wanted, was that little brother back. The little brother that wouldn't hurt them, or himself, the little brother that used to smile and laugh. The little brother that could love and be loved. When Naruto had started hanging around with her brother, she'd been apprehensive and somewhat protective, but as the two became closer and Gaara was becoming more recognisable, she couldn't help but love the little blonde ball of hyperness who'd dug his way into their lives.

It was only later on that Temari realised Naruto had the same problem as her brother, and from then on she knew she had to help him, as he had helped her family. Naruto began to do extremely well, cutting back on his check-ups, smiling real smiles more often, even managing to get new friends, until the Sabaku family had had to move away. It was their father's idea, and no matter what they said, he wouldn't change his mind.

Temari saddened as she thought of how Naruto had gotten on alone. When they moved, even though Gaara had lost his best friend, brother even, he'd still had his actual blood relatives to support him. Naruto had been alone. And so, from what he'd said things had become worse, and he'd been transferred again.

"Hey kiddo," Temari whispered to Naruto, who looked at her, "How'd things get worse?"

Naruto frowned and answered with three words, "The sound four."

Temari – and Kankuro who'd been eavesdropping – narrowed their eyes.

The sound four, oh how they would suffer if they ever ran into them again.


	5. Chapter 5: Anything But Ordinary

**Disclaimer: **Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto and all its characters. I just use them for fanfictions. I also do not own the play Blood Brothers!

**_A/N Again, thank you to everyone who reviewed and added this to their favourites! It makes me happy, which makes me write faster...and more, according to this chapter! It mostly wrote itself and I'm sorry if there are mistakes, it's quite late and I don't have a beta!_**

**_More things happen - kind of - in this chapter, of which I'm happy for and hope you all enjoy reading it! Heh, sorry if you think some of the characters are OCC, but, meh, they need to be this way for it to work! Oh yeah...maybe a little smidgen of Sakura-bashing...anyways, sorry for the long a/n! Please read and Review! n.n_**

**_-Translations for any Japanese words at the bottom.-_**

**This is How You Remind Me.**

**Chapter 5: - ****Anything But Ordinary**

The shrill call of the bell alerted everyone and after pleasant goodbye's, Temari, Kankuro and Tenten went on their way.

"Now, we all have English wiiiith…" Kiba said, thinking who their teacher was.

"-Kakashi-Sensei, baka, he's our form tutor and you still forget he teaches us English. So troublesome." Shikamaru concluded, shaking his head warily.

Naruto contently watched his friend's interactions, following along behind, beside Chouji.

"How're you liking your first day so far?"

Naruto looked at the boy, surprised at the question.

How did he like the day so far? Comparing it to any other first day at a new school it was basically the same routine. Routine, he scoffed at the word. His brow knitted together, taking time to think over the question. He had new friends, however the school was split into worthless groups – some placing themselves higher than others. His teachers seemed friendly and welcoming enough, meaning they didn't know about the accident. However, there was something strange about that Orochimaru, the way he smirked at Naruto made him feel as if _he_ knew, which would be a very bad thing.

Naruto had been re-united with his 'replacement family' of sorts, after believing them gone forever, even though he hadn't seen Gaara yet. All in all, the good outweighed the bad.

Turning to Chouji with a small smile, Naruto answered with an honest, "Couldn't be happier."

Chouji in turn smiled back and they entered 11D's form room.

* * *

Kakashi sat back in his chair, converse-clad feet up on the desk, and an orange book in his hand. 

As the students filed into class, he sighed momentarily, before storing the book away and getting up.

"Oh, and, by the way, you guys have a new seating plan." He grinned – well, from the way his mask moved and his only visible eye gleamed, the students assumed he grinned – as his pupils stared open mouthed at him, before groaning.

Oh how he loved torturing his students.

Kakashi made everyone stand up and move to the front, as he pointed to seats and placed each person individually. Each bench held enough for three people to sit at and Naruto prayed he was with at least one of his new friends.

"Over there we shall have, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino." Naruto watched as Kiba offered Hinata his wolf-like grin as they sat down, with an oddly dressed boy. Shino – by the name Kakashi called out – was dressed in black baggy jeans, held up by a studded belt. He had chequered vans on his feet, and a dark blue hoody zipped up so fully that his mouth was hidden and the hood completely covered his head leaving the only part visible to be his eyes…or what would have been his eyes had they not been covered by dark sunglasses…in September. Naruto saw Kiba groan as Shino sat beside him, and he mouthed the word 'emo' to Naruto, as if this explained everything.

"And on this table, we have Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino-"

_And me!!_

Naruto desperately pleaded in his mind.

"-and Akimichi Chouji."

Naruto groaned as his friends were all paired up together. They gave him a sympathetic smile, which he returned sadly.

"-and Uzumaki Naruto." He heard Kakashi finishing.

"Huh?" He answered intelligently.

"Your seat, Naruto. Over there, in between the window and Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto started and looked up. Sure enough, he saw a spare seat next to the Uchiha. However, also on that table was one of the popular girls…the one Ino had named Sakura. He blinked at her bright pink hair and raised an eyebrow. But made his way over to his new table.

Sitting by Sasuke, he got out his books and orange pencil case, waiting for the lesson to start.

"Right," Kakashi started, "you've all got a copy of the play 'Blood Brothers' in front of you and I want you to read them. An extract from this book will be appearing in your exams, so learn it. Also, to make it more interesting, you shall only be reading the play at home, during lesson time, you shall act out the play in the groups of three I have placed you in." Kakashi grinned again as he earned a collected groan from the class.

"Okay then, off you go." He returned to his original position: feet up on the desk, orange book in hand, and proceeded to ignore his class.

Naruto flipped open the first page of the book in front of him, and scanned the names of who would appear first.

"Well, I'm going to be the Narrator." Sakura announced getting the attention of the two boys.

"But…hey! There's only women to start with, and you're the only girl here…" Naruto trailed off as he saw the glare from the pink-haired girl.

"I think Sasuke-Kun should be Mrs Lyons, because they're both from respected upper-class families." Sakura swooned, making Naruto glad he wasn't the raven at that moment.

"Do I not get a say in this?" Naruto immediately shut his mouth as he received another glare from the girl. He noticed the raven boy smirking at him once again, and his temper started to rise.

"What you smirking at, _teme?_" He growled, but this only made Sasuke's smirk broaden.

"Nothing, _dobe_." Naruto's eyes widened as the boy insulted him, in Japanese…so he knew Japanese too? Quickly getting over his surprise, Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"What did you call me **teme**?"

"Huh? Oh, you mean, _**dobe**_?" Sasuke almost flat-out grinned at the loud-mouthed boy sat next to him. This was the most fun he'd had in ages. The blonde was slowly getting angrier by the second, and Sasuke swore he saw his eyes flicker red, but the next minute they were the same brilliant blue again. He watched as Naruto clenched and unclenched his hands, face set in a formidable scowl. He thought the dobe sat in front of him was about to punch him, but to his surprise, he grabbed his bag, chucked everything from in front of him into the bag and stood.

"Where you going, _Usuratoncatchi_? The lessons not over yet." Sasuke stated and watched with glee as the boy stopped, fighting with himself to go back and retaliate. However, the boy's will won and Sasuke watched disappointedly as the dobe sent a small nod to Kakashi – who nodded back – before walking out the door.

_Well, that was…unusual._

Sasuke, however, had a small inward victory of winning the – sort of – fight, boosting his already large Uchiha ego, before he came to terms with what had happened. The baka had left him with Sakura. He groaned inwardly as the girl next to him stared up at him, with almost visible hearts in her eyes. He tried very hard not to be sick as she spoke in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"So, Sasuke-Kun, where were we?"

* * *

Naruto clutched his head as he made his way back to Tsunade's room, inwardly berating the stupid teme who'd caused him all this grief. 

He somehow remembered the way and retraced his steps, before coming to an abrupt halt in front of her door. Knocking hurriedly, he prayed no one would pass him in the corridor; he couldn't risk anyone doing so at this moment in time.

Not a few seconds later, the door opened, and he came face to face with the head teacher, who immediately opened the door to let him in.

"What happened Naruto?" She asked, quickly analysing the situation.

"Stupid…Uchiha…bastard." He managed to say in between deep calming breaths.

Tsunade sighed, mentally cursing Kakashi. Oh, she knew it would be Kakashi to sit Naruto next to the Uchiha; just for his own amusement.

"Well, it can't be helped. And anyway, class was nearly over and you were in here next, so, now couldn't be a more perfect time to begin."

Naruto nodded, feeling himself calm down more as the seconds passed.

"But, Naruto, the only way I can help you is if I experience what happens first-hand." Tsunade gave him a grave expression.

Naruto looked at her, his eyes wide.

"But…that means, I have to let hi-"

"Yes. I'm sorry, but it's the only way. I know you don't like it happening, but hopefully, from my analysis, I can find a way to stop it."

"…I…I can't do it! What if you get hurt?"

"That is a risk I'm willing to take Naruto. You can only benefit from this and I really am sorry for having to make you go through this experience."

Naruto gulped and nodded.

"Ready whenever you are Naruto." Tsunade stated, preparing herself for 'it'.

Naruto thought back to the anger he'd felt before and let it grow inside of him. His eyes become hot, almost burning in their sockets. His body, however, felt somewhat lighter, and a few seconds later, he was consumed by darkness.

* * *

"…Naruto?" Naruto groggily opened his heavy eyelids and blearily looked around. The first thing that came into focus was a desk. 

_That must mean I'm in school…I slept during lesson?_

However, raising his head slightly, he found a very fuzzy looking shape…that kind of looked like-

"Tsunade-Sama!" He shouted, suddenly wide awake and alert.

"Are you okay? Did anything happen? How long was I out?"

Tsunade smiled at the concerned boy, reassuring him with that one action.

"Don't worry. I'm fine, yes, some things did happen – but again, I'm fine, and nothing went too out of control – and for your final question, you were out for an hour. Meaning that in a few seconds, it'll be time for lunch."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck still staring at Tsunade worriedly.

"Don't worry brat, I can take care of myself! But, I've got to say, I've never seen this problem so developed. And you only get it when you feel overly angry, or overly scared. This will take a lot of analysing. Therefore, our session for today is up and you can now go to lunch!" The woman stated, just as the bell sounded.

Naruto smiled warily, before standing up.

"Bye Tsunade!" He grinned, as her eye twitched.

"Tsunade-Sama, brat! And I'll see you tomorrow, same time!" She grinned as he frowned at being called a brat.

"Hai!"

He stepped out of the room, carefully closing the door behind him.

_Detention with Orochimaru…_

He groaned and started making his way back to the Biology labs.

His feet carried him along and before he knew it, he was stood outside the dreaded door, before making his way inside.

"Ah, Master Uzumaki. I seem to have had an impact on your time keeping. Thank you for arriving at the correct time. Now, let's get started on your punishment."

Naruto, once again shuddered as he took a seat at the front desk.

"Because you do not know the meaning of being punctual to lessons, you will write me a 1200 word essay on how important it is for you to be in class on time." Taking out a notebook and a pen, Naruto began writing.

While he was writing, however, he noticed that the teacher's eyes never left him. Slowly, daring himself, after 10 minutes, he looked up and sure enough, yellow eyes looked back at him.

"What seems to be the problem, Naruto-_Kun_?" Naruto paled at hearing his name spoken from this utterly creepy guy.

"Uh- N…nothing." He stuttered, returning back to his paper…only to feel a presence right in front of him. Looking up once more, he was greeted with his teacher's face, looming over him. He was close enough for Naruto to see how the pupils in his yellow eyes were slits.

_Just like a snake's…_

"Are you sure there's not a problem?"

"Um…No! No problem!" Naruto answered quickly, wishing for nothing more than to be away from this guy.

"Because if there was a problem w-" Orochimaru stopped talking as his door opened and evenly paced footsteps could be heard.

"Yes? What do you want?" Naruto dared to glance behind and saw none other than…Sasuke?

"I'm sorry for interrupting, but Tsunade-Sama wishes to see Naruto."

"Can't you tell her he's in detention for misbehaving during lesson?" Orochimaru ground out through gritted teeth.

"I'm very sorry, but she does say it's urgent."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at the raven, "Very well." Turning to Naruto, however, he smirked. "You may leave, but as a warning, I will not be as 'kind' next time this happens, therefore, I suggest you turn up on time and _behave_. Plus, I want that paper on my desk, 9 am tomorrow morning." With that the teacher turned around and strode from the room.

Naruto relaxed, not realising how tense he'd become, before turning to Sasuke.

"What does Tsunade want?"

"Oh, that? Nothing. Made it up. Now hurry up before he gets back."

Naruto stared at the Uchiha, unable to comprehend what he'd done.

"Hold on a minute. You mean…you're busting me out of detention…what's the catch?" Naruto figured Sasuke wasn't the one to do things for others without wanting something in return.

"No catch, _baka_, now hurry up!" Said dark-haired boy growled.

Naruto still wore a confused expression as he packed away and quickly followed the other out the room.

_I don't have a good feeling about this…_

* * *

**Sensei - **Teacher 

**Baka - **Idiot

**-Kun - **Informal suffix used mostly for boys

**Teme - **Bastard

**Dobe - **Dead-Last

**Usuratoncatchi - **Moron of all morons

**-Sama - **Suffix for a sign of respect or of importance

**Hai - **Yes


	6. Chapter 6: More Than Words

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. I don't make any money by what I do, 'cause this is a _fan_fiction.

**_A/N Gomen minna! I thought I'd have this up by Tuesday, but I read it over again, then decided I didn't like it, and made changes quite a few times! Heh, hope you like this chapter! And I will hopefully have the next one by Friday!_**

**_Again, sorry if any of the characters are OOC, but, yeah - that's the way they're sticking! Hope you enjoy and please excuse any mistakes! Also tiny reference to drugs...-looks shifty- kind of! Please read and review! n.n_**

**This is How You Remind Me.**

**Chapter 6: - ****More Than Words**

Naruto hurried after Sasuke out the lab door and down two flights of steps, before the other turned and pinned him with a stare.

"Now. You tell me what happened during English." He stated simply, one eyebrow raised pointedly, not leaving any room to argue.

Naruto frowned, but didn't catch onto the meaning behind the glare. "None of your damn business, now get out of my way."

"Wrong answer." Was Sasuke's only reply. Naruto could only look at him with…wonder?

"Do you enjoy being a cold, arrogant bastard?"

"Yes actually." Sasuke smirked. Hey, it was a way to pass the time.

Naruto seemed to lighten at this comment. "Good to see you have a sense of humour too." Naruto paused, seeming to think for a moment, before outstretching his hand, smiling at the puzzled Uchiha.

"Uzumaki Naruto." He stated, the grin still plastered on his face.

"What are you doing dobe?" Sasuke replied, raising an eyebrow at the hand in front of him.

"Uh, it's called a handshake, teme." Naruto spoke, politely missing the 'dobe'. "We didn't exactly get off to the best start, and we are going to have to work together…"

Naruto saw Sasuke take in this information before slowly reaching out with his own hand, grasping Naruto's tanned hand with his own pale one.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

* * *

Naruto smiled happily to himself, as he ran up the hill towards the unused steps. This was where 'the gang' said they would be hanging out. Slowing down as he crept up to the corner, he leant back, and tried to blend in with the brick wall as much as possible…which wasn't much 'cause, hey, it was a brick wall. He strained his ears, trying to catch snippets of conversation between his new friends, to see who would be there. 

"We tell you every time you'll get caught bringing him into school all the time!" That was definitely Ino.

"Yeah, but, he misses me! I can't leave him at home! He would never survive with only my mum and sister for company!" Naruto grinned, that _had_ to be Kiba.

"What happens if one of the teachers found out? -Crunch- That would be worse!" Hmm…Chouji?

"Gah, so troublesome." Okay…that's just blatantly obvious.

"Gaara, can't you beat it into his thick skull?" Ino again…wait, what? Gaara was there?!

Naruto grinned widely and – keeping to the shadows – crept round the corner. He had to stifle a squeal of happiness when he saw his 'brother' stood leant against the dull railings, ignoring the conversation going on around him. Naruto smiled, glad that he hadn't changed one bit.

As quietly as he could, Naruto 'blended in' with the wall, making his way towards Gaara. Everyone else was involved in their own arguments, so they didn't notice him. Just as Naruto was about to pounce on Gaara, said redhead turned to look at him and said, "Don't you even _dare_ think about it."

Naruto's grin – if possible – got wider, and ignoring Gaara's demand, he jumped on the older boy, giving him (like his siblings) a bone-crushing hug.

"Naruto…" The blonde felt a poke in his side. "…Naruto…" Another poke, slightly harder. "…**Naruto**!" This time a full prod, which sent him toppling to the ground.

"Hey!" He cried in protest, rubbing the arm he fell on. Gaara, however, just sighed, but anyone could see he was trying hard to hide his smile.

"How'd you know I was there?" Naruto asked, picking himself up off the floor – everyone else had noticed him by now, but had carried on with their own conversations.

"No one else is stupid enough to annoy me." Gaara answered simply.

"Or brave!" Naruto countered.

"No…no, just stupid."

"Fine. Aren't you happy to see me though?" Naruto asked smiling widely, as Gaara rolled his eyes.

"Of course; who _wouldn't_ be happy at being re-united with their self-proclaimed brother after 2 years of believing to never meet again?" Gaara answered – rather sarcastically – but it made Naruto beam – hey, Gaara may not be good at saying how he felt, but his expressions told Naruto more than words ever could.

"I know! And I'm already making friends! There's Kiba, Shika, Ino, Chouji, Tenten – Temari and Kankuro of course, but they don't count, as I already knew them! – Oh and Sasuke!" Gaara visibly flinched.

"_Uchiha_ Sasuke?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason."

"Oh, my god! Did I just hear right? Uchiha _Sasuke_ talked to you?! But he never talks to anyone! Let alone _us_! I mean he practically owns the school!" Naruto looked at Ino who'd been the one ranting, raised an eyebrow, then burst out laughing.

"…What?" Now Ino was stumped – as were the others there; they'd all long forgotten their conversations and were happily eavesdropping.

"It's just…_him_?! Own the…school? He's…he's…with the…and the hair…" Everyone around sweat-dropped at the blonde boy who was struggling to talk in-between laughs. Soon, everyone else began to join in. Even Gaara had a little chuckle at the thought of the Uchiha's hair.

This was how Temari and Kankuro found the gang of teens. Going up to Gaara, Temari tapped him with a small fan she had in her hand – hey, it added a bit of mystery to her life, plus it was useful to hit people with. "Whatever they're on, count me in."


	7. Chapter 7: Memories

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto and never will, because Masashi Kishimoto created him -nods-

**Warnings:** Mild cussing? Umm, maybe OOC-ness...that's about it!

**_A/N: I'm really very sorry I haven't had this out earlier! I've had major internet problems (getting online for about 5 seconds before it disconnects) which annoyed me to no end! But hopefully this chapter is longer than the rest to make up for it! I've also just realised that I'm still writing about the first day O.O So hopefully it will progress further!_**

**_Thank you to everyone who reviewed! And to those who favourited! It makes me so happy! -nods-_**

**_Sorry for any spelling mistakes and also for the massive delay! Hope you enjoy!_**

**This is How You Remind Me.**

**Chapter 7: - ****Memories**

Naruto inwardly smiled; he couldn't remember ever being this happy. Yeah, he'd had friends in other schools, but, no one had ever been this…inviting, this friendly to him before. Some way or another, they'd known about the accident and held it against him. But, on a lighter note, he'd found his 'family' again. Naruto couldn't believe how lucky he was at this moment in time.

"…Naruto?" He looked up at the faces of his new – and old – friends. They were all looking at him, trying to figure out why he'd 'spaced' on them. Smiling, Naruto brought his hands up, holding an imaginary camera in front of his eyes.

"Click." He stated, pushing down an invisible button. He laughed out loud as everyone's expressions changed – all exactly the same.

"Um…what the hell?!" Yup, that summed everyone's thoughts up, well, except Shikamaru who was sleeping…and Gaara, who never shows that expression.

"I was taking a photo…well, kind of. A memory photo…" Naruto trailed off as they still stared at him like he was insane.

"No, I was just thinking how lucky I am to have met you guys on my first day is all!" He grinned sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. Everyone broke out into smiles.

"Naruto, baka, you don't need to record memories…it'll be different this time." Temari whispered from his right, before tapping him on the head.

"Anyways, we gotta be off, reg is starting." She stated to the group, just as the bell rung.

"How do you _always_ do that?!" Kiba questioned, staring at her.

"It's called a watch dog boy."

"Oi! I told you not to call me that!"

"Cuh, so troublesome…"

"Hey, Shikamaru, mum said you have to come round ours for tea tonight!"

Naruto got to his feet, watching Kiba and Temari argue, whilst Shikamaru and Chouji followed slowly behind, discussing dinner arrangements.

"See ya later Naruto!" Ino called as she dragged Hinata to a building on their left.

"B…bye Naruto-Kun!"

He waved happily, as two people fell in to step with him.

"It's so awesome you're back Naruto. Really. You'll have to come over sometime! See you!" Kankuro ruffled his hair before running off.

"I can't believe he still wears that hat!" Naruto laughed slightly, before looking at Gaara.

"What?" After looking at Gaara's expression, he stopped.

"What do you mean 'what?' you know what." Was all he got in reply.

"You know me too well." Naruto sighed.

"Tell me then, what's the matter?" The two began walking at a slow pace in the direction of their form room.

"I won't be welcome at your house, even if I wanted to go. And don't lie to me Gaara. I know the _real _reason you moved was because your dad thought I was a bad influence." Naruto finished, watching his 'brother's' face.

"It's true. But who cares about him? He certainly doesn't care about us. Now, stop worrying; it doesn't suit your face."

Naruto smiled slightly before nodding.

"I just hope we don't all get split up again."

* * *

Maths. Oh how Naruto hated maths. Ask him to write a creative story full of angst and drama, tension and suspense…brilliant. Ask him to draw a self-portrait that actually looks convincing, fine! But ask him to find the circumference of a circle, percent of interest added after 2 years, or even an angle of a triangle using sin, cos or tan…no way. Their teacher seemed pretty cool though. He was sat behind a paper-cluttered desk, flicking through a big, thick maths textbook, glancing at each page before making a small comment. He had an unlit cigarette in one hand, and a chain around his neck holding what looked like…brass knuckles?

"I know, today, let's work on our strategy skills. Everyone split into pairs and take these." The teacher – Shikamaru named Asuma-Sensei – held up a board, before pointing to a pile in the corner.

"And in the bags you'll find the pieces."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Kiba who was sat in front of him.

He mouthed the word "Chess." Before going to get a board.

Turning to his left, Naruto looked at the person he'd been sat next to. The boy had long black hair – tied at the end – and very pale eyes…almost like Hinata's. He was wearing black jeans and a pale purple t-shirt, which seemed to highlight his naturally pale skin.

"Hey…are you related to Hinata?" The boy looked at him – in an almost calculating way – before nodding.

"Yes. We're cousins." Naruto grinned.

"Oh cool! So, um, who're you?"

"Isn't it polite to state who you are first, then inquire to who I am?"

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto looked at him oddly. This guy was like the opposite of Hinata…and they hadn't mentioned him at all…

"Okayy…Uzumaki Naruto, great to meet you!" Naruto smiled, then waited for the other boy's response.

"Hyuuga Neji."

"Great! I'll go get the board, and um, we'll start!"

Hurrying off to the front of class, Naruto grabbed one of the last chessboards, not forgetting the bag, before making his way back. He stopped at Kiba's table and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, what's this guy's problem?" Kiba turned to see who Naruto was talking about, then rolled his eyes knowingly.

"That's Hyuuga. He's 'emo' so don't take whatever he says too personally. Umm, all I know is that he's Hinata's cousin and is seriously pissed 'cause he's not in the main family. His dad and Hinata's dad are brothers, but this huge wealthy company was left to Hinata's dad, so she'll inherit it when she's older, instead of him." Kiba finished and Naruto stared at him open-mouthed.

"…All you know?! You're like an encyclopaedia on people in this school!" Kiba was about to retaliate to this, but Naruto grinned and returned to his seat, taking the pieces out the bag.

"That piece doesn't go there. Are you an idiot?" Naruto frowned as Neji re-arranged the pieces on the board.

"No, I've just never played chess before!" Naruto crossed his arms.

"Why does fate torment me?" Naruto heard the dark-haired boy mutter to himself.

"Uh, excuse me? …fate? …what the heck?"

"Fate is what made you sit next to me, forcing me to work with an idiot." Neji stated, his pale eyes boring into Naruto's.

"No…" Naruto started slowly, "The spare seat next to you is what made me sit next to you!" Naruto inwardly laughed. This was…idiotic! He'd met lots of different people before, but this school was turning out to house all sorts of characters.

"Yes, it was fate, showing that Fate is cruel." At this Naruto did laugh.

"Fate? Okay, okay, I do believe in fate, but seriously! Come on! Fate doesn't control your life! _You_ control your life! Fate just helps along the way."

"Then tell me why I am forced to live a life lower then that of my cousin, even though I'm older and more suiting to the position she will be in." Neji (almost) snarled at Naruto. Even he didn't know why he was blurting all his personal information out to this boy he'd just met.

"Well, have you ever thought you were _meant_ to be born into that life? Look, I don't agree with what your family does – giving the business to one family and all that – but maybe you're meant to be there to help Hinata. Or maybe you're meant to make your own way in life and start your own life. Have you ever thought about how she feels? Having this thrust upon her? Having her whole life planned since birth? If you were in her position now, would you still be saying the same thing? Just think about it. Maybe, in another person's point of view fate was actually being kind." And with that Naruto picked up his bag, walked to the front of the class, nodded to Asuma, before leaving the room, and a very shocked Neji behind.

He made his way over to the nearest water fountain and rummaged in his bag for the tablets. He laughed thinking how that speech of his had given him one heck of a headache.

"So, mysteriously walking out of class again? Someone might think you have a 'condition'." Naruto spun around, only to come face-to-face with…

"Sasuke? What're you doing here?"

"Same thing as you, dobe, getting a drink."

Naruto eyed him suspiciously.

"I think that's highly improbable."

"I'm surprised you know such large words."

"Teme."

"Dobe."

The two glared at each other. Light azure eyes against cold obsidian ones.

"What have we here then? I'm not against guys being together, but can't you be a little more private about it?"

The two quickly looked away, turning to the intruder.

"Kakashi-Sensei?" They found themselves looking into the giddy face of their English teacher.

"Hai, hai. Shouldn't you be getting back to class? Not _messing around_ in the corridor where people can see? Hm?"

At this Naruto blushed and pointed a finger from himself to Sasuke.

"Y…You think me…Sasuke…we were…we were…NO!"

Sasuke on the other hand glared at Kakashi.

"Well, to an outsider, things seemed to be getting a little heated. But I must say, Naruto you do work fast; it's only your first day and you managed to get the Uchiha? Well done." Kakashi grinned in delight as he saw Naruto's pinkish tint deepen and Sasuke begin to show signs of being uncomfortable. Yes, Kakashi _did_ love to torment his students.

Naruto turned his flabbergasted gaze on his teacher.

"PERVERT!" He yelled, before running off down the corridor to his left.

Kakashi merely chuckled before turning to Sasuke.

"Keeping an eye on him, are you Sasuke?"

His answer was a mere, "Hn." And an icy glare, before he too walked off. However, that was all the answer Kakashi needed. He grinned to himself, before walking off to see his good friend Jiraiya.


	8. Chapter 8: Hell

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto because Masashi Kishimoto does -nods-

**Warnings: **Maybe mild cussing again...big time skips?

**_A/N: Thank you for all reviews and favourites! n.n I do hope you like this chapter! Sorry if it seems rushed, but I really wanted it to move forwards! It was annoying me so much T.T I think this one may be on of the longest chapters! I do have some great ideas for later chapters, plus I even a have an ending! It's just getting there without the story sounding rushed with is annoying me T.T_**

**_Plus, I've got one question for you all! I haven't decided the personalities yet, but they will definitely be in this! Should Akatsuki be in character and evilly mean, or should they be really OOC and be there for humour?_**

**_Thank you if you read this A/N, it is a bit longer than most! Again sorry for any mistakes, and I hope you all enjoy!_**

**This is How You Remind Me.**

**Chapter 8: - Hell**

Naruto found himself sprinting towards the music block; he'd seen a small 'cove' where bags and coats were _supposed_ to go, but was actually the perfect place to hide from teachers whilst ditching class.

"It's your first day and you're already ditching?"

Naruto spun around as a voice came from behind him.

"Kankuro? Gah, baka! Don't scare me like that!" Naruto ended his sentence with a light punch aimed at Kankuro's shoulder, which he easily avoided.

"So, what happened this time?" Kankuro continued, ushering Naruto to sit next to him, leaning against the far wall, which was covered in graffiti.

"Um, well, infuriating stuck-up Hyuuga, headache, annoying cold bastard Uchiha and perverted sadistic Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto found himself laughing.

"How frequent are the headaches, Naruto?" The boy stopped at this, eyes cast downward. Kankuro's eyes narrowed. This was obviously bad. This Naruto was the Naruto they'd first met 2 to 3 years ago; definitely not the one they'd left. Inwardly he cringed. They'd _left_.

He was brought out of his musings when Naruto spoke softly.

"They've been getting worse." His fingers trailed the grain-like ripples of the floor, eyes still averting the gaze of his 'older brother'.

All Kankuro could do was nod. He knew that their family – with the exception of his dad – would help the blonde boy become who he once was; after all, he'd saved their family from breaking apart.

* * *

Naruto waved happily to his friends at the end of the day. They all split up into different directions, and he too started the ten-minute walk to his apartment.

He smiled slightly as he opened the door and threw his school bag on the blue couch. He had about five minutes according to the clock on the wall. Quickly changing into his work uniform, he ran into the kitchen, downed a glass of water and ran out the front door. He didn't stop running until he got to Ichiraku; the restaurant he worked at.

"Ohayo Naruto-Kun! On time as always!" Naruto grinned broadly at the owner's daughter, Ayame, who also worked there.

"What've we got tonight?" He asked jumping over the counter, just as Teuchi walked in. He frowned disapprovingly at the boy, who only laughed in response.

"Naruto, remember what I told you about doing that?" He sighed exasperatingly.

"You couldn't bear to fire me Teuchi-San; I'm too valuable!" He laughed happily as he ran off into the kitchen away from the swipe headed his way.

"Ohayo Nishi, ohayo Matsu!"

The two cooks looked up, one was stirring a pot of what looked to be soup, the other chopping vegetables, to greet Naruto. Retracing his steps out the door, he heard Matsu yelp, obviously cutting himself. Naruto sighed. Those two were really too clumsy.

He walked back to Ayame who was stood behind the counter flicking through the book.

"Ne, Ayame Nee-Chan, got any bookings tonight? I hope there're no formal business meetings. They're so boring and rude!" He pouted remembering the last ones to come in.

"Even so, Naruto-Kun, more business means more money, meaning this place can expand and in turn gain more workers like yourself." She smiled at him as he rolled his eyes.

"Hai, hai. So, what do we have tonight then?"

"We have one business meeting and a birthday. Should be quite busy!"

* * *

Naruto yawned tiredly as he finished helping wash the last of the dishes. He'd been busy all night and hadn't even had time for a quick break. Apparently many people decided they wanted to eat out that night and he'd been back and forth writing orders, serving dishes, he was even forced – by a smirking Teuchi – to sing happy birthday to a little 8 year old kid. This was by far one of the busiest days he'd seen.

Naruto couldn't remember even walking home, but as soon as he walked into his bedroom, he only managed to just about change into a baggy t-shirt and some shorts before he collapsed onto his bed, asleep within minutes.

* * *

The next morning Naruto did the same routine, arriving in school 10 minutes late and being showed to his lessons by his new friends. Today he met a few more interesting people, like Jiraiya-Sensei for instance. This guy seemed to be even more perverted then Kakashi! Plus he taught them Art. That was the scary thing. He was talking about getting _live models_ for them to draw. However, even so, Jiraiya did seem to be very good at art. Today they were supposed to be drawing plants he'd supplied each student with. Naruto stopped drawing as Jiraiya looked over his shoulder at his sketch.

"Seems like you've got a natural talent. What's your name, gaki?"

Frowning at the name, but smiling at the compliment Naruto turned to his teacher.

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Ah, I see. Tsunade said she'd already had a visit from you because of _it_ and Orochimaru seems to have already found reasons to give you detention." Jiraiya smirked at the boy. He'd placed himself in a spare seat next to the blonde, and was pretending to show Naruto how to improve, as he did with each of his students.

"You seem to be very knowledgeable." Naruto stated simply.

"Ah, well, us three talk more often. Old school buddies, you see!" He grinned happily, whereas Naruto stared at him dumbfounded.

"_YOU?!_ But you look so much…_older_ than them two." Jiraiya twitched at this.

"Well, you can think what you want, but believe me, we were all in the same year at school. Kinda ironic we all ended up working together." He mused at the last thought.

The bell rung, interrupting the students, and Jiraiya gave Naruto a "Good work." Before he went off to his lesson with Tsunade.

* * *

"Hey gaki! Ready?"

"Hai, Tsunade-baachan." Naruto smirked as a vein in the woman's forehead began twitching in annoyance and…anger.

"_What did you call me?_" She whispered threateningly. Naruto backed up a little, unsure as to what Tsunade would do to him, after all, he couldn't see her face. When she received no answer, her eyes travelled up to meet Naruto's.

"**Who told you that?**" The voice was like a growl. Naruto recoiled slightly, before managing to squeak out, "Jiraiya!"

All through out the school, their head-teacher's voice could be heard as she screamed a certain ero-sennin's name. Most students shook their heads, all thinking the same thought.

_What has he done this time?_

* * *

**One Week Later**

Naruto sighed contentedly as he sat in his pyjamas, mindlessly flicking through TV channels. It was Saturday afternoon and he had nothing else to do, besides homework. The school week had passed quickly and Naruto found himself drawn into another routine. But, for once, he actually had a good feeling about it all. He'd made a ton of great friends, and no one seemed to know about his past – which suited him fine. Even the teachers were nice to him! He loved his work, the people there were always kind to him and Naruto loved all the free food that came with it – whether Teuchi knew about it or not. Yes. All in all, Naruto was happy with his life for once.

A knocking at his front door brought the teen out of his reverie and he searched for the remote to turn the TV off, before making his way over to the door. He opened it and found none other then his school friends there, all smiling. Naruto looked to the front of the gang and found Kiba to be the one who'd knocked.

"Hey Naruto! Thought you might wanna hang out with us! We were gonna show you around!"

Naruto raised his eyebrow slightly at the group of people on his doorstep.

"Sure. Mind if I get dressed first?" The group suddenly noticed his attire and agreed, inviting themselves into his apartment, as Naruto made his way into his own bedroom.

A few minutes later the group of 8 – Kankuro and Temari were supposedly too busy – were walking into the main town, where Naruto hadn't wanted to venture before.

"So Naruto, what d'you wanna do first?" Ino asked, putting an arm around his shoulders and grinning.

Naruto laughed. "You tell me!"

Ino grinned then proceeded to drag him off into the large shopping centre. Shikamaru groaned.

"Girls are so troublesome."

"Come on Shika! I'm sure we can leave the girls shopping and go get some cookies!" Chouji grinned at the thought.

"Heck no! We said we were all going out _together_. So we will! Hinata, Tenten you girls agree with me, don't you!" Ino grinned at the suddenly blushing Hinata.

"Hell yeah!" Tenten shouted.

"U…um, su…s-"

"-See?" Ino interrupted the stuttering girl.

"You could have at least let her finish!" Kiba said, rolling his eyes.

Gaara only smirked, and Naruto smiled at them all.

"I guess it's shopping then!" He stated happily.

* * *

Naruto felt himself be dragged into yet _another_ clothes store. Ino, Tenten and Hinata had moved from clothing store to clothing store trying on different outfits and asking Naruto's opinion. He'd even tried to sneak away about 10 times only to be stopped by one of the girls. He frowned as he re-called earlier, when the _whole_ group had been together.

Ino dragged him in through the first door, a tight grip on his arm, which confused Naruto a bit, but he tried to keep up anyway.

"_This one first!" Tenten had pointed to a shoe shop on their left, and the two other girls agreed. The boys however, seemed to be following at a much slower pace._

_Just as the girls, and Naruto, entered the shop, the gang of four boys took off running in the opposite direction._

"_Have fun Naruto! See ya later!" Kiba yelled back over his shoulder._

"_Cuh, this running is too troublesome."_

"_Well, it's either that, or getting caught by the girls! Sorry Naruto!" Was Chouji's response._

_Gaara only smirked as Naruto started to follow, only to find he couldn't move from the tight grip on his arm. So _that's _why she'd grabbed him._

Naruto stood, leaning against the wall, arms weighed down by bags. This was one of the most horrible experiences of his life! Plus, he felt like a pack mule. He sighed, stretching his back as the three girls walked up to him.

"Ahh, that was fun, yeah?" Ino sighed contentedly and the other two girls nodded, or giggled.

"Can we go find the guys now?" Naruto pleaded

"We just need to go in _one_ more store." The blonde haired girl smirked evilly, as did Tenten, whereas Hinata resumed her blushing.

"Which one?" Naruto didn't like the girl's expressions.

"That one." Tenten leaned over his shoulder and pointed at the shop opposite. Naruto blushed, then paled and dropped all the bags he was currently holding.

"HELL NO!" Was the only answer they received before he took off running.

The girls burst into laughter and picked up their respective bags.

"Now _that_ was fun." Ino copied her statement before as the three left the shop, passing by the shop opposite, having no actual intentions to go into the lingerie store what-so-ever.

* * *

Naruto stopped running as he caught sight of Gaara's red hair and took to jumping on the said boy.

"Naruto, get the hell off." Was his only reply.

"NO! Do you _know_ what I've been through?! Do you _know _where they tried to take me?" Naruto yelled into Gaara's ear, from his position on his back.

"Yes and yes. Now _get off._" Gaara accompanied the last two words with pushes, so Naruto fell off of him.

"Hmph." Naruto looked around, taking in his surroundings, that he'd ignored. They were in a small arcade. He could see Shikamaru playing on a car racing game, sat low in the fake car seat. A group seemed to be formed round him, talking in confused or annoyed voices. On closer inspection it seemed Shikamaru had fallen asleep, and no one could wake him to get to the game.

Chouji and Kiba were stood waiting to go on what looked like a small motion simulator. And lastly, Gaara. He'd taken to playing on a shooting video game, with fake plastic guns. Naruto rolled his eyes at this, but picked up the other gun and joined him.

* * *

The group of 8 decided to leave an hour later and Naruto chose to take them to Ichiraku's to eat, after all, it was like his second home, plus it served great food.

"Ohayo Naruto-Kun! Hey…you're not working today!" Ayame was, once again behind the counter, giving Naruto a puzzled look.

"Ohayo Ayame Nee-Chan! No, I'm not working today; I wanted to bring my friends here to eat!" He grinned.

"Oh, great!" The girl smiled before ushering them all to a table.

After they'd all eaten and were contentedly full, Hinata suggested they all go down to the lake, to which everyone agreed. Naruto told Ayame to take the price of the dinner out of his paycheck, but was stopped by Gaara, who handed over a bunch of notes. Naruto frowned at him, receiving only a glare in return. The blue-eyed boy sighed, and followed the rest out the door, and on a 10-minute walk to the lake. The sun was just setting as the 8 teens sat themselves on the grass by the lake, chattering quietly between themselves and occasionally laughing at jokes or comments. Naruto sighed happily, and lay back. He loved the first part of starting out at new schools; making friends.


	9. Chapter 9: Lost At Home

**Disclaimer: **Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto and all its characters! I wouldn't like that responsibility n.n

**Warnings:** Confusing-ness...heh, um, may be short...I hope not though!

**_A/N: Yay! I got this out quite quickly after the other! n.n Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! Again thank you so much for reviews and favourites!! -smiles-_**

**_Oh yeah, sorry, forgot to mention this! But, for sake of this story, the rookie 9 and Gai's team will all be in the same year, otheriwse it's too troublesome! Temari is in her last year and Kankuro is in the year below her - they're in 6th form though!_**

**_Oh, and Akatsuki won't show for a few chapters, so you can still vote on whether you want them to be in character evil or OOC humour! Thank you! And again about spelling, though it should be okay, 'cause I have spell check! Hope you enjoy!_**

**This is How You Remind Me.**

**Chapter 9: - ****Lost At Home**

'_**Let me out. You know you want to.'**_

'…_no.'_

'_**It hurts doesn't it? You know I'm getting stronger.'**_

'…'

'_**See. You can't deny it. It's different this time.'**_

'_Leave me alone.'_

'**_Haha! You know I can never do that. Because-_**' 

Naruto woke with a start. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead. His t-shirt stuck to him in an uncomfortable way. He couldn't remember his dream, but whatever it had been about, he knew it wasn't anything good. Carefully, Naruto made his way to his bathroom. He stood before the sink, looking at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes looked painfully bloodshot, even though he'd had plenty of sleep. Grumbling, Naruto cupped his hands under the running water and splashed the icy cold water on his face, ridding him of the sticky sweat. Grabbing a small towel, he dabbed at his face before looking back at his reflection. He gasped and grabbed his head as excruciating pain spread throughout it. The only thing he heard before he fell unconscious on the floor were three words, uttered coldly and fiercely with clear amusement.

"_**I am you**_."

Naruto woke as he heard the annoying bell of his alarm clock. Groaning, he sat up and wearily opened his eyes. He looked around and suddenly felt confused. Why was he on the bathroom floor? Shakily standing up, the blonde staggered into the living room, switching the TV on quickly.

It was Monday. Where the hell had Sunday gone? He nervously ran his fingers through his hair and dropped onto the couch. How had he managed to miss a whole day? He wasn't tired. He _knew_ he hadn't been tired Saturday night after spending it with his friends. So what had happened?

Naruto frustratedly pulled at his hair trying to understand, then remembered he had school. He growled quietly and set off to wash, change and pack his bag in under 10 minutes.

* * *

Kakashi looked up as the blonde haired boy skidded into the room. 

"Sorry I'm late!"

The teacher raised an eyebrow when he looked at the boy's eyes. Why were they so bloodshot?

Just as Naruto began to walk to his seat, Kakashi called him.

"Naruto, a word outside?" Naruto gave him a confused look before shrugging and going back out into the corridor.

Once Kakashi had shut the door, he looked at the boy, frowning slightly.

"Anything happen this weekend?" Naruto continued to stare at him in confusion.

"Well, yeah, I went out with my friends…?"

"No, I meant, did you have any trouble? You don't look well." The boy realised he was talking about his eyes, but shook his head in response.

"No, nothing happened! I guess I just watched too much TV!" He pretended, while sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

The silver-haired man gave him an unsure look, but slowly nodded.

"Okay. The bell's about to go now anyway. I'll see you in English, Naruto. Plus, I have a little project for all the groups!" Kakashi was once again back to his happy, carefree self.

Naruto raised his eyebrow slightly at what it could be, but shook his head.

Then a thought struck him. He couldn't believe why he'd never asked Kakashi this before…Naruto had just taken it as it was and never questioned.

"Ne, Kakashi-Sensei…why do you wear a mask?"

At this, Kakashi seemed to ponder the question, before he shrugged.

"I have allergies." Naruto just blinked at this answer and watched the teacher go back into the classroom.

The bell rang and doors all along the corridor were flung open, revealing crowds of students, pushing to get out.

* * *

English came only too soon, and Naruto couldn't help but dread what Kakashi had planned. Who knew what that perverted teacher would make them do? He took a seat next to the window, and waited for the two others from his group to show. They came all too soon, and Kakashi stood up gleefully. 

"Good, everyone's here! Well, I just thought I'd tell you all what your next 'project' is going to be! As you know, a certain percentage of your final English mark is based on the 'Speaking' part. On your desk, you'll find a piece of paper stating which scene from 'Blood Brothers' you are to practice in your groups of three, and two weeks from now, you'll all have to perform it in front of the class. Then I'll give each of you a mark and a grade based on how you act it out. So, sound fun?" Kakashi stopped to grin at the low muttering now resonating around the room. "Plus, this will be homework. Therefore I suggest you sort something out about meeting up with the other people in your group! Okay? Good! You can start now." Kakashi smiled to himself, as he slyly looked at Sasuke and Naruto. Of course, he'd never have thought of this without Jiraiya's help. He chuckled, before opening his book and picking up from where he'd left off.

"So, Sasuke-Kun, will we be going to your house to practice?" The pink-haired girl asked in a sickeningly sweet voice, eye's boring into the raven-haired boy's. Sasuke grimaced and turned away.

"No. My brother doesn't like guests."

"Oh, okay…Well, sorry but you can't come to mine. My parent's won't allow me to have guys over." At this she pouted.

The two turned to look at the blonde, who had yet to speak.

"Uh…I…um-"

"Cat got your tongue, dobe?" Sasuke smirked as Naruto glared at him.

"No, _teme_." He looked around, mind working quickly over how he could get out of this situation. Finally, he sighed.

"Fine. You can come to mine. When?"

"Tonight's good for me!" Sakura giggled, happy at the thought of spending time with Sasuke.

"Same." Was Sasuke's helpful answer. This only made Naruto sigh again.

"Okay. Meet me at the gates after school."

"Hn. On another note dobe, what's wrong with your eyes?" Naruto growled in annoyance.

"None of your business."

* * *

Naruto ran up to the gates, but was stopped before he could reach the two stood there. 

"Naruto." Gaara was looking at him.

Naruto gave him a puzzled look, before walking closer to see what the redhead wanted.

"I didn't want to ask in front of the others. What's wrong with your eyes?" At this, Naruto growled.

"I'm sick of everyone asking about my eyes! I must've watched too much TV or something, okay?" Gaara frowned and grabbed Naruto's collar.

"Don't give me that. I'm just looking out for you. I'm here to _help_ Naruto." Naruto's eyes softened and he looked at Gaara guiltily.

"Sorry. I dunno, I woke up and they were like that. I mean, I'm not tired and I had _plenty_ of sleep." Gaara looked at him questioningly, wanting Naruto to expand on the sentence.

"Promise you won't freak?" Naruto knew how bad Gaara could get.

"Yes."

"I, uh, kinda…skipped a day?"

"How?"

"Last I can remember I went to bed on Saturday night, feeling the normal amount of tiredness I usually do, and the next moment it was Monday morning and I uh…I was on the bathroom floor?"

Gaara frowned. "Have you told anyone else?"

"Why? I probably managed to walk there while I was asleep…"

"I doubt it."

"Look, I didn't have any problems, and nothing seemed wrong, so let's just leave it. If anything like it happens again, I'll call you, okay?"

Gaara's frown deepened. "You better. See you tomorrow." He let go of Naruto and walked off.

The blonde rolled his eyes and made his way to the two he was supposed to be taking back to his apartment.

Unbeknown to him, however, Sasuke had taken great interest in the conversation he'd had a few seconds ago, and even managed to lip-read parts. Nothing could get by the Uchiha, especially when something had piqued his interest, and Naruto definitely had.

"Ready to go?" The two nodded, and they set off in the direction of Naruto's apartment.

* * *

Naruto hesitatingly opened the door to his apartment. He kept it tidy, yes, but he knew there'd be questions about his parents and in all honesty he hated telling people. As soon as they knew an uncomfortable silence would follow, or they would turn to him with pity in their eyes. That was the worst thing and Naruto couldn't handle that look again. 

"Uh, make yourselves at home, I guess. Can I get anyone a drink? Something to eat?"

The two guests looked round the small apartment and walked into the living room, eyeing the bare walls.

"Sure, I'll have a glass of water, please."

"Same." Sakura and Sasuke replied respectively as they sat on the blue couch. Naruto smiled before rushing off into the small kitchen to get the orders. He came back a few seconds later and handed the glasses to his guests.

"Your parents at work dobe?" Naruto froze, tensing up. An action not unnoticed by the Uchiha.

"Um…yeah…something like that." He shrugged and sat on a small chair opposite the others.

"So, let's get this thing started, yeah?"

* * *

An hour later the three finally gave up trying to learn their lines. Surprisingly it was hard work, and with Naruto's small attention span, things just didn't seem to go swimmingly. 

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck at the two sighing exasperatedly as he read the wrong lines again.

"Uh…sorry?"

"It seems we're gonna need a lot more practice. Same again tomorrow?" Sakura questioned the blonde boy, who shook his head in response.

"Sorry, I can't make it tomorrow, I've gotta work." At this Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"You work?" Sakura also seemed interested all of a sudden.

"What? It's always good to have a little spending money!" He gave a fake laugh that sounded horrible even to his ears.

"Riiight. Well, what about Wednesday?"

"That's fine by me! You all coming round here again?" At this the two teens nodded.

"Great, well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow in school then!" He smiled cheerily at the two before walking them to the door.

"Yeah sure, see you."

"Hn." Before they exited, Sasuke glanced at Naruto, who quickly looked away from the raven's eyes.

Shutting the door behind them, Naruto sighed. He _hated_ lying to people, but it was always the same. If he told them the truth…if he was an open book, he _knew_ what the reactions would be and more so, he _knew_ no one – besides Gaara, Kankuro and Temari – would want anything to do with him. _That_ was what he feared the most, and heck he couldn't just let that happen again.


	10. Chapter 10: Fake

**Disclaimer: **Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto and all its characters! I juts use them for my story! n.n

**Warnings:** Sorry, but I think Sai turned out really OOC! T.T Plus maybe cussing. Also I've introduced some slight Shonen-Ai, KakaIru, so if you don't like that pairing…sorry?

_**A/N: I think I managed to get this out relatively quick! But my net has been playing up, plus I'm having to type this author note out again, 'cause my internet decided to disconnect while I was saving it T.T **_

_**On a lighter note though, this is the longest chapter! n.n Though sorry for any mistakes! I was writing this at 3am, 'cause my brain wouldn't let me stop, and I also wanted to get it out faster for you all, 'cause you're awesome! n.n –grins- That may also be the reason for the utter fluff at the end –exasperated look- **_

**Akatsuki still won't show for a few chapters! So vote on whether you want them to be in character evil or OOC humour!**

**_Thank you again and enjoy! n.n_**

**This is How You Remind Me.**

**Chapter 10: - ****Fake**

Naruto was currently sitting in his Physics lesson doodling in a notebook absently, while his teacher, Kurenai-Sensei, explained the spectrum of light. He hated Physics; it was confusing, boring and he found no point in having to learn it, but whatever.

"Oi." Naruto looked up at the person who'd whispered.

"Yeah?" He found himself looking into dark eyes…that oddly resembled Sasuke. The boy had short hair – again, the same colour as Sasuke's – and was wearing a weird white t-shirt that showed most of his pale stomach and dark jeans, which hung low on his hips. Naruto found himself mentally wondering if this guy owned a mirror when he was interrupted.

"I've seen you around school. Naruto, right?"

Naruto nodded.

"Right. I'm Sai."

"Um, pleased to meet you?" He took in the odd smile adorning the new raven's face and frowned; that looked _really_ fake.

"What you drawing?" Sai took his notebook and flipped through the small doodles, grabbing his own pencil and adding some new sketches to the page. Naruto looked on, confused at the forwardness, but decided to shrug it off. He'd hopefully just made a new friend. At this, Naruto smiled, and continued watching the boy draw.

"Who do you hang round with?" Naruto found himself saying a few minutes later.

"Oh, I'm considered a 'Popular'. You should've seen which group I'm talking about by now." Was the answer he got in return, Sai's attention never leaving the drawing he was working on.

"Why do you sound not so…enthused about your friends?"

"What friends? You think people like that are friends with each other? No. They only use each other to gain popularity." Naruto frowned deeply at this answer.

"So why do you stay with them?"

At this Sai stopped and looked up, straight at the blonde himself, a smile plastered on his face; that didn't look right at all.

"Because it's expected of me." Naruto scoffed.

"Look, I don't care what you're told, but being around people you don't actually like is stupid, even if that's what's expected." Naruto whispered hotly – realising Kurenai was glancing in their direction.

"You don't understand. Sasuke's made _them_ popular, even more popular than the 'Popular's' themselves. I have to stay where I am because it's expected. I am an Uchiha and Uchiha's have to ensure power." Naruto sat staring wide-eyed at the boy next to him. An Uchiha? They couldn't be twins, could they? No. Cousins maybe? Shaking his head, Naruto realised he'd gotten off-track.

"That's a load of crap." The words fell out of his mouth before he could stop them. Sai could only raise an eyebrow at his outburst, as if asking him to explain.

"You should live life the way you want to, not by the name you're born with! Even so, being popular and miserable sure as hell doesn't give you any power. There are more important things than _power_. And who _cares_ if Sasuke's more popular? You are you, and you should live the way you want to! I know I couldn't be surrounded by loads of people who weren't even my friends, every day; I'd find that the loneliest place to be." Naruto trailed off and studied Sai's face…which had lost the smile.

"Oh…I'm sorry, I didn't mean…gah, I just spoke without thinking again…just for-"

"No. I've never thought of it that way. I suppose…it is a lonely feeling. I'm…I uh…" Sai stopped speaking altogether and rose from his seat, and silently left the classroom.

Naruto stared, stunned at his reaction. Apparently Kurenai didn't care as she ignored him and carried on. Looking back at the desk, Naruto remembered the drawing Sai had done. He picked the book up and held it in viewing range. Looking back at him were two cartoon drawn people. One was of Sai standing, hands behind his back and an unreadable expression on his face. The other was of Naruto himself, also standing. His arms folded behind his head – an unconscious habit he'd been made aware of by his friends – and a happy smile on his face. There seemed to be a quite _big_ gap between the two. Naruto frowned once again. He'd have to find Sai.

* * *

However, finding Sai, Naruto discovered, was not easy. The boy was either avoiding him or had left school grounds completely. Naruto had been running around the school corridors, glancing in classrooms, checking all the places he could think of to find Sai. He was by now, absurdly late for Art, but knowing Jiraiya, he wouldn't get into too much trouble. Rounding a corner, a little too quickly, Naruto felt himself collide with something, or someone, resulting on his immediate close-up with the floor. 

"Ow." He groaned, rubbing the wrist that had _tried_ to stop his fall.

"Oh my! I'm so sorry, please, let me help you up…Naruto?!" Naruto froze at his name being called, but found himself looking up into warm brown eyes.

"Iruka-Sensei?!" He knew his mouth was probably wide open, but he couldn't care less at the moment. This school was a mystery to him; people kept popping up.

"Ah, so _this_ is where you go to school, Naruto!" The young man helped Naruto to his feet and smiled.

"What are you doing here Sensei?"

"Naruto, how many times have I told you to drop the 'Sensei' when we're not at the shop?" Naruto pouted and shook his head. Iruka was the friend he'd made at the local music shop and, when he had spare time, he would bring out new books to _almost_ teach Naruto how to play the piano: Naruto absolutely refused free lessons.

"It doesn't sound right just calling you Iruka!"

Iruka sighed, rolling his eyes.

"And don't ignore my other question!"

Again, Iruka found himself sighing. "Fine, fine. You know how I told you about my um…my boyfriend?"

Naruto laughed at Iruka's very sudden pink face, but still nodded.

"Well, I came to visit him, seeing as how we've both been really busy lately."

"You mean…he's a teacher here?! Anyone I would know?" Naruto suddenly started bouncing on the spot, eager to hear who it was.

"Well, you should know-"

"Iruka! You left this in my room." Another voice suddenly sounded, drowning out Iruka's reply. Said voice was quickly followed by a person.

"YOU!" Iruka deadpanned at Naruto's outburst, while the newcomer smiled happily, lifting a hand in greeting.

"Yo!"

* * *

"I still can't believe that _pervert_ is your boyfriend!" Naruto said, for the umpteenth time. 

"Naruto! Kakashi is not a…" Iruka found his sentence die out. He looked over to his left to see the man in question giggling at something in his book. A book he'd seen all too many times. He sighed exasperatedly, turning back to Naruto.

"Well nevermind, I've got to be going now Naruto. I left Kotetsu and Izumo in charge and you know with them I can never guarantee to go back and see the shop in one piece."

Naruto laughed. "That last time was awesome! …I should go back and visit them again!" He smiled happily at the thought, while Iruka was inwardly crying at the thought of his whole life's work being destroyed.

Kakashi suddenly appeared behind Iruka, circling his arms around his waist. Resting his head on – the now _very_ red – Iruka's shoulder, he smiled at Naruto.

"I best be seeing Iruka off! You should be getting back to class. Even if Jiraiya is a laid-back teacher, he still doesn't like it if you miss his lessons altogether." Kakashi winked at the boy, before he started walking the brunette towards the doors.

"See you Naruto!"

"U…h…yes, see you Naruto! I'll come by to visit, and to make sure you've got enough food in!" Iruka was yelling by now, as Kakashi insistently dragged him away.

Naruto shook his head, laughing slightly. He took in the silver-haired man's words and quickly raced to his Art class.

Naruto had thankfully received no punishment for being extremely late to his Art class. Jiraiya had only smirked at him, as if he knew something that the blonde didn't.

* * *

Now the blue-eyed boy was stood by a very big, very round table, full of people and he was taking their orders. Yes, once again, Uzumaki Naruto was at work. He smiled at the group, jotting down the last of the orders, before running to the desk and handing Ayame the note. She then took it to the two men in the kitchen. 

Naruto grabbed his drink from the counter, whilst waiting for her to come back, so he could chat. The door to the restaurant opened and Naruto found himself choking on the liquid going down his throat.

"Naruto-Kun? What's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing, nothing!" He said, all-too-quickly for Ayame to take it seriously.

"Okaay, well, I see we have some more customers. Mind showing them to a table?"

Naruto frowned. Only earlier he'd thought about people 'popping up'. It seemed no matter where he went _someone_ would find him. In Iruka's case it was a nice surprise. This time…not so much.

He put on a smile, and walked over to the four boys.

"Hello, I'm your waiter this evening. If you would please follow me, I'll show you to a table." Three of the boy's eyes widened as they saw him.

"Naruto?" The three questioned in unison. Each turned to glare at one another, except for the fourth who had yet to move.

"Yes, now stop standing round gawking and come sit!" The blonde uttered angrily, stalking off.

The four complied, and took their seats.

"Well, I'll leave you to decide what you want and I'll come back in a few." Naruto said in a bored tone, before beginning to walk off, when a voice stopped him.

"This is where you work dobe?" Naruto felt his eye twitch at the name, but stopped himself from yelling. Slowly, he turned round to face Sasuke, smile still in place.

"Why…I do believe it is." He took great pride in seeing the Uchiha glare at being made to look stupid. Naruto took the next few seconds to look at who else was with him. Hyuuga Neji…figures. The blonde looked at the cold eyes directed at him, but continued to smile back, inwardly punching that pale face for being a stubborn idiot. Sat on Neji's right was the boy he'd seen in…English! The one Kiba hadn't been so thrilled to sit next to. His name was…S something…S…S…Shino! Now he remembered. The boy was once again dressed in his dark hoody, which covered his face, bar the eyes that were hidden behind sunglasses. Now, Naruto moved his gaze to the last person…the person that Naruto was most surprised at seeing in the presence of Sasuke and the same person he'd almost missed Art to look for. Yes, on his right sat Sai, who was currently keeping his gaze locked on the table, away from Naruto.

Naruto smiled, though anyone could see he didn't want to.

"I'll leave you to decide now." And with this he ran off back to the counter, skilfully jumping over it, before sprinting into the kitchen, where he found a sight that made him sigh. Nishi was currently passed-out near the counter. It seemed he'd slipped in the soup Matsu spilt and banged his head on said counter. Matsu, on the other hand was trying desperately to manage all overflowing and bubbling cooking pots, whilst sparing quick concerned glances in Nishi's direction. Naruto sighed grabbing a spare apron. This was going to be a long night.

Ayame walked in the kitchen five minutes later and sighed loudly. Nishi and Matsu were very clumsy. It was a good job that Naruto could cook most of the things on the menu, after all he'd had to help out in the kitchen on more than one occasion due to the 'accidents' that occurred.

"Sorry to bother you Naru-Kun, but table 5 seem to be getting impatient." Ayame smiled at him as he nodded and ran out the door, producing a notebook and pencil. Ayame, on the other hand, walked over the _still_ unconscious cook and sighed, lifting him up under his arms.

"Matsu. I trust you'll be okay for five minutes?" Said cook turned to give her a nervous smile. "Good. I'm going to put Nishi on the couch, then I'll come back and help…if Naruto doesn't beat me to it."

Naruto ran to the table with the four boys, and caught his breath.

"Ready to order?" Everyone sat there gave him a confused eyebrow raise.

"Nice apron, dobe." Naruto looked down at the apron he had on. Hey, it wasn't anything _girly_; it was a cook's apron for crying out loud!

"Thanks, so, orders?" He said distractedly. The blonde just wanted to get back to the kitchen to make sure Matsu didn't burn the place down.

The four grudgingly gave him their orders and he scribbled them down, before running back to the kitchen.

"We've got more orders!" He yelled running into the room, finding both Nishi and Ayame gone.

"Naruto, help!" Naruto sighed again. This indeed was going to be a long night.

* * *

"Last one." Naruto dried the last dirty dish, putting it back where it belonged. 

"Thanks Naruto-Kun. I don't know _what_ we would do without you." Ayame smiled.

"No problem! I like working here…even if it does mean a little extra work than usual!" He grinned and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Dad said he was gonna give you a bonus for all your hard work, so at least you're getting paid for doing other's jobs."

Naruto's grin widened. "Really? Yosh!" He started to do a small victory dance around the kitchen, which made Ayame laugh.

"You sure don't wear out easily! Go home and get some rest Naru-Kun! I see you Thursday, yeah?" Naruto nodded, not stopping his dance as he waved and made his way through the door, over the counter and out into the cool night air.

He stopped suddenly as he felt a presence behind him.

"Um…hey Naruto."

Naruto waited for the person to walk into the light pouring from the street lamp, before frowning, confused.

"Sai? What're you doing here? Didn't you guys leave like an hour ago?"

All he got in response was a nod.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I've been…thinking…about what you said earlier. It _is_ a lonely place to be…and when I hung round with Sasuke…I saw that, even though they're all cold, silent and popular…they're still friends." At this, he looked straight into Naruto's eyes. "I want that too! I want to have friends! I don't…I don't want to feel alone."

Naruto's eyes went wide at Sai's confession. This didn't seem _at all_ the way Sai would normally act. Naruto walked forward and pulled the boy into a hug. Not caring what it looked like to anyone else. Sai needed someone and he wasn't going to abandon him.

"Don't worry. I'm your friend." He felt return the hug awkwardly, before pulling back.

"Thanks." He laughed slightly at himself.

"No problem." Naruto grinned.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Naruto nodded and the dark-haired boy smiled, a real smile.

"That's better." The Uchiha frowned.

"What is?"

"That smile's not fake. It suits you better." Naruto grinned when he saw the realisation on Sai's face.

"Thanks."

The two smiled at each other before parting and walking off to their respective homes, and hopefully a good night's sleep.


	11. Chapter 11: Teen Drama

**Disclaimer:** Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto and all its characters!

**Warnings:** Mild cussing? Maybe OOC, but I am trying!

**_A/N: Hey, thank you for all the reviews! Sorry it's so late! I've had so much going on lately! I hope you like this chapter, though I'm not very happy with it T.T Oh well, hopefully the next one will be better! And I have now decided Akatsuki will be evil! So they should be popping up soon!_**

**_Anyways, please enjoy!_**

**This is How You Remind Me.**

**Chapter 11: - ****Teen Drama**

"Naruto, we'd like you to meet Lee!" Naruto blinked. It was now Lunch Time and he was being introduced to the missing member of the group. In front of him stood a quite tall boy. He blinked again, trying to take in the boy's appearance. He was wearing, what looked like, a bright green, skin tight, long sleeved, turtleneck t-shirt, along with black shorts. The boy's black hair was shaped as if a bowl had been the main template, his eyes were rather wide and finally his eyebrows…holy cheese and rice his eyebrows! Naruto blinked again as the boy smiled widely.

"Hello! I'm so sorry I couldn't be here to meet you from the start! But, I was away with Gai-Sensei, taking part in a Youthful cross-country competition for the school! It was most challenging, as we had to go quite a long way, but my youthful enthusiasm prevailed and I won!" At this, Lee raised his right hand and gave Naruto a 'thumbs-up' whilst grinning. Naruto choked and went into a coughing fit, while the rest of the gang grinned around him, knowing looks on their faces.

"Lee, you might want to 'tone down' the youthfulness." Tenten sighed poking his arm.

Naruto's coughs subsided and he looked back at Lee.

"Well, um, great to meet you? I'm Naruto! Hey…who's Gai-Sensei?"

At this Lee pumped his fist in the air, gaining a serious look.

"He's the most amazing teacher ever! He teaches P.E, and is my role model!" Everyone around groaned.

"Lee, just eat your lunch." Tenten sighed again.

"You'll find out about Gai later Naruto, we have P.E today." Kiba said in between mouthfuls of his chicken sandwich.

Naruto smiled and looked around at the group. Temari was having a, what seemed to be, one-sided argument with Shikamaru, who was propped up against the railing on the steps, eyes closed. Kankuro, Chouji, Kiba and Ino were playing a card game that Naruto hadn't heard of before, and chose to stay out of, as each one seemed to lose a lot of money. Tenten was pretending to listen to the newly introduced Lee, who looked like he was shouting about the competition he'd participated in. Finally, Gaara was sat next to Naruto, arms folded, eyes closed and a scowl on his face as he listened to the noise going on around.

"Um, Naruto-Kun?" Immediately everyone stopped talking or playing cards – Shikamaru even opened one of his eyes lazily – and directed their attention to the new voice.

"Sai?!" The blonde looked up from where he sat, surprise showing on his features at the dark-haired boy looking down at him.

"Yeah. I was wondering if I could join you all?" Naruto suddenly recalled the conversation he'd had with Sai the previous night and immediately nodded.

"Sure!" Sai let slip his 'real smile' before sitting next to Naruto and producing his own lunch from a pocket in his trousers.

"Uh, Naruto, word please." He looked round to see everyone staring at him.

"What?!"

"Get over here!" Temari frowned.

"Fine! S'cuse me for a moment Sai." Sai nodded and he crawled over to the rest. "What?"

"You do know that's _Sai_, don't you?" Temari started.

"Yeah! _Uchiha _Sai!" Kiba helped.

"Of course. I met him last night. He's nice once you get to know him!"

"Nice?! _Nice?!_ He's a popular!" Ino retorted.

"I saw you talking to Sakura, she's a popular is she not?" Naruto pointed out plainly.

"Don't go there! We used to be friends, it's different!"

"How?! Have any of you actually _talked_ to Sai? Have any of you _tried_ to get to know him?" He stared round the group as they all shrugged. "He's my friend, so I'm going to hang out with him, if you don't like that, then I'll just leave!"

"He can stay." Everyone looked at Gaara.

"I suppose it'd be all right, I mean, none of us really know him, he could be just like us!" Chouji smiled.

"So, troublesome, but, we'd all be major hypocrites if we didn't let him hang with us."

"Fine."

Naruto grinned happily. "Sai, come over here!"

The Uchiha did as told and joined the group.

"You all know Sai, obviously, and Sai, if you don't know this is Shikamaru, Kankuro, Chouji, Temari, Ino, Tenten, Kiba, Lee and Gaara!"

Sai nodded at them all.

"People say that you become closer if you use nicknames for everyone, based on their characteristics or features. Should I use a nickname for each of you?" The group all blinked back at him.

"Sure?"

Sai looked to his left and found Shikamaru sat there. He looked at him for a second before opening his mouth.

"Hmm…Pineapple." He stated, eyeing the lazy boy's rather spiky hair. The group burst out laughing at this. Next to Shikamaru sat Kankuro. Sai took a long look at him, and his hat, before speaking again.

"Kitty." Again people laughed, whereas Kankuro growled, obviously annoyed. Next in the group was Chouji. Sai glanced at him, as he had done with the others.

"Fa-" Naruto quickly covered his mouth before he could go any further – he'd witnessed what could happen if that word was uttered around Chouji.

"I think that's enough of nicknames, let's just use proper names from now on! I know, why don't you join their card game?" He quickly urged the others to help him out and let go of Sai's mouth.

"Ah, yes, cards. How do you play?" Naruto left him with the others and crawled back to his previous spot.

"How'd you make friends with Sai?" Gaara turned up next to him.

"At work. Him and some others went to dinner there and I had to take their orders." He rolled his eyes. "How come you guys didn't tell me he was an Uchiha?"

Gaara shrugged. "Why would you want to know?"

"Curiosity…Is he Sasuke's cousin?"

"Yeah."

"That explains it. Oh crap! They're coming tonight!" Naruto slapped his palm against his head, then frowned rubbing the now red spot.

"Who are?"

"Sasuke and Sakura. Stupid English, no wait, stupid pervert Kakashi!" Gaara merely blinked, not needing to ask.

"Do they know you live alone?" Naruto frowned.

"No."

"You shouldn't lie. They'll find out soon enough Naruto."

"I know, I know! I'm waiting for the right time." Gaara just closed his eyes in response, succeeding in annoying the blonde.

* * *

It was now P.E time, and Naruto cringed once more as their teacher applauded their game. It had been raining outside, therefore, both girl's and boy's groups had been mixed, but they got the choice of either Badminton or Bench Ball. And Naruto had chosen Bench Ball, along with Gaara, Lee, Kiba, Sai and Tenten. Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino had opted for Badminton, as they didn't want to run around too much. Now Naruto regretted his decision. Gai had gone with this group and Anko - the girls' teacher - had gone with the Badminton lot. Gai was running along the sidelines of each game, swapping between the 3 games that were taking place. Naruto had managed to get on a team with Sai, Lee and Tenten, and was currently the one standing on the bench waiting to catch the ball. Whenever one of the teams scored a particularly good point, managing to get more of their team on the bench, Gai would shout and applaud them.

Now Naruto knew what Kiba had been talking about…and now he understood Lee's weird getup and appearance; Lee was like a mini version of Gai, right down to the tight green t-shirt…or in Gai's case, leotard.

Naruto groaned at Gai cheering loudly as he managed to catch the ball, hence letting Lee onto the bench beside him.

"Is this not the most invigorating game ever?! Teamwork! Teamwork is the main part, without it we shall not prevail!"

"YOSH! That's the spirit Lee!" Gai voice could be heard yelling from the other end of the sport's hall.

Naruto quickly turned his attention back to the game as he received the ball from Sai, and letting him join the bench too.

"I am thinking Badminton would have been a lot less noisy." Sai stated as he balanced himself next to Naruto.

"I hear ya."

Naruto was too distracted this time, to notice the ball flying at him…Quite quickly as well.

It hit his head with a resounding 'SMACK' that unbalanced him, sending the dazed blonde tumbling off the bench, where he landed on the concrete floor on his left knee. Naruto grimaced in pain as everyone around stopped playing.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Sai was kneeling on his left.

"I'm fine." He lied, trying to stand up, only to put the weight on his bad leg. Shoots of pain surged upwards and he grabbed hold of Sai's arm for support.

"No you're not. I'll take you to the first aid room. Lee, could you tell Gai where we've gone and why?"

"Of course!" Sai muttered his thanks, before helping Naruto leave the hall. Two dark eyes followed their figures, unnoticed, as the owner had an inside battle of emotion, none that he would gladly show in his features though.

* * *

Naruto stood by the gates, arms folded, waiting for the other two to turn up. His knee still hurt like hell, even though they'd managed to reduce the swelling a bit, he could still feel it throbbing. He hadn't even been able to see who threw the ball at him! And worst of all, he had to be taken to the first aid room, which made the blonde feel weak.

Sighing as more people walked past, he finally spotted Sasuke's head amongst the crowd. The raven looked deep in thought when he came to a stop right next to Naruto.

"Hey." Naruto greeted.

The older teen seemed to snap out of his thoughts and looked at the other teen.

"Hn…I never knew you were friends with _Sai_."

Naruto blinked at the way he said the name. "Uh, yeah…got a problem with that?"

But before he could retort, the two heard a loud screech.

"Sasuke-Kun!!" Sakura came running into view, joining their group and after greetings from Naruto, the trio left for his apartment.

Naruto winced again. His left knee was getting stiff and more painful as he walked, but thankfully they were just traipsing up the last few steps towards the corridor his door was situated in.

He pushed open the door and told the others to get comfortable on the couch.

"Uh, do you want any drinks? Anything to eat?" Both Sakura and Sasuke shook their heads and resumed getting out their copies of the play.

"Okay, well, you two get started, I'll be back in a minute!" He tried to grin, but it turned out more like a grimace, as he hobbled into his bedroom. Naruto rolled up his left trouser leg and stared at the ugly black bruise forming, before taking out a plastic box from his drawer. Carefully, he rubbed arnica gel over the bruise before bandaging the knee for extra support.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Sakura was happily practising her lines, with a very unresponsive Sasuke, until a noise at the font door attracted their attention.

"Naruto! I have some shopping!" The two watched as a tall man in his late twenties, with brown hair tied up in a ponytail, chocolate coloured eyes, tan skin and a very odd-looking scar across his nose, let himself into the apartment with four plastic shopping bags in his two hands. The man looked surprised to see them sat on the couch, before replacing his expression with happiness.

"Oh hello! I'm Iruka, very pleased to meet you!" Sasuke and Sakura nodded at him. "Is Naruto here?"

"Uh yeah, he went to his room, I think." Sakura replied, eyeing the stranger.

"Ah, okay!" 'Iruka' walked to the boy's room and let himself in. "Naruto?"

Naruto yelped and jumped in surprise.

"Gah! Iruka! Don't jump up on me! What are you doing here?"

Iruka frowned as he saw the bandage. "Naruto, what happened?"

"Oh that!" Naruto saw where the man was looking. "I fell off a bench in P.E." He grinned sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. He rolled his eyes at Iruka's serious glare, before making his way out the bedroom, Iruka following behind.

"You know, you really have to stop being such a 'Mother Hen'. I'm a big boy now, I can take care of myself." Naruto waved at the two still practising, before grabbing the plastic bags. "I'll be right with you, just gotta put this all away."

"Is it so bad that I worry about you?" Iruka frowned, taking a bag of off Naruto and unpacking the contents.

"No, but you worry too much."

"Um, sorry for intruding on your conversation, but, is this your dad, or brother or someone…no offence." Sakura added quickly to Iruka.

"My dad…my brother?" Naruto laughed and soon Iruka joined in.

"No, I'm Naruto's friend and I keep an eye on his well-being. Honestly, if I didn't get his shopping for him, he would be living on fast food or take-aways, and that's hardly healthy."

"Wait a moment…how come his parents don't shop?" Sakura continued.

"What…you don't know? Naruto, you didn't tell them?"

"Tell us what?" Sasuke had now joined the conversation.

"I was waiting for the right moment." Naruto huffed.

"So, you lied to them?" Iruka frowned.

"No, I just didn't tell them straight out!" He retorted.

"Tell us what?!" Sakura looked quite scary right then, and Naruto took a step away from her.

"Well…you see, the thing is…I live alone! My, uh, I don't have any parents…" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck again, and looked anywhere but at the two teens in front of him.

"Oh."

"Hn. You shouldn't have been worried over telling us that."

Naruto looked up at Sasuke, confusion and surprise etched on his face.

"Uh, thanks…" Iruka smiled as he watched Naruto smile.

"Why don't you three carry on practising? I'll make you all something to eat!"

"Ah, thanks Iruka! You always cook great stuff!"


	12. Chapter 12: New Eyes Open

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does! n.n

**Warnings:** Slight cussing, fluff, maybe some angst...nothing too bad!

**_A/N: I'm so sorry that this took ages! I was meant to have it done and posted ages ago, but everything's been so hectic! Plus, everytime I had some free time and went to type it up, I would be dragged out the house by my mum T.T_**

**_To answer a review yes this will be SasuNaru, but not major lemon or anything. Just a slow believable relationship, I hope I'm pulling that off y.y_**

**_Also, I was pretty happy with the title n.n! I gave it the title, then re-read the chapter and realised it does hold something true to the title n.n_**

**_If any of the characters seem OOC, ah, sorry T.T_**

**_This is, by far, my longest chapter! -Dances- Around 8 pages long on Word!_**

**_Thank you to everyone who reviews, favourites, read or alerts this story, it makes me very happy!_**

****

**This Is How You Remind Me**

**Chapter 12: - ****New Eyes Open**

The night was all but quiet, seemingly so, until a small voice disturbed the deafening silence. Further into the penetrating darkness showed the squirming body of a teen. Said teen was laid on a bed, eyes closed in what would be a calm sleep, if not for the boy's constantly fluttering eyelids, his sudden and jerky movements. Uzumaki Naruto was in a fitful sleep. His dreams plunged into leering faces; faces he'd thought had long been forgotten. One face, however, stood out more amongst the others, a face he'd seen only in dreams…no, no one could call them dreams, for they were nightmares of the worst kind. Many a time the young boy had awoken, but not thoroughly, as the vines from the nightmare gripped at his waking mind, trying to drag him back, always with that face nearby. At these times the azure-eyed boy could not move. His eyes would rapidly roll around, taking in the dark grooves of the ceiling above him, but his body remained still, as if paralysed in place, though not from fear. The fear did happen to follow after. Who wouldn't panic if they woke from a dream, unable to move for 30 seconds…30 seconds that seemed to drag on, posing as 10 minutes…an hour even?

For this teen had suffered many a sleepless night due to such events, afraid to go asleep with the thought of paralysis greeting him come morning. School doctors had questioned the boy, after frowning upon the dark circles lurking under his bright eyes. He'd even once plucked up the courage to tell one what had happened, only to receive a small giggle in response. "Don't worry about them dear! They're perfectly normal. It's to do with the chemicals in your body. As you go to sleep, your body sends out chemicals to stop you from getting up and say running around the house, or causing yourself harm. When you awaken from a dream, or nightmare too quickly for your body to register, it can't get rid of the chemical quickly enough; therefore you remain 'paralysed' until it can! There are many common names for this and different types too! Though this one sounds like the 'Night Nurse's Syndrome'." The whiskered teen had only nodded and left, not even the slightest bit relieved, for he saw someone each time this nightmare came. A face; always the same. A voice; harsh and mocking. A complete stranger; yet also so familiar. For these 'dreams' weren't caused by his body's natural chemicals. No. The nightmares plagued his mind by someone who was as much a part of himself as he was. Naruto's worst fears, heart wrenching memories that he'd begged to be rid of were savoured by the one who experienced them all too. Someone who called themselves…

"Gyah!" Naruto jumped back from the mirror, eyes wide in shock, his heart beating irrationally fast. Had he seen _His_ red eyes looking back?

…_No, no…he can't have…he's not-no, not possible._

The blonde shook his head. He couldn't believe the words that lingered in his mind. The words had come to him that night, yet he remembered dreaming them days ago. It couldn't be true…could it? _He_ couldn't be getting stronger…No…

Naruto glared at his reflection, looking as though he were threatening himself. The hatred, his now icy blue, eyes showed in their depths was astounding. To an outsider it would look highly puzzling. A young boy 'glaring daggers' at his own reflection.

"Oi! Naruto! Hurry up!" The blonde in mention, jumped, brought out of his intense gaze by the voice from outside the door. Running a shaky hand through his hair, Naruto walked out of the Boy's Toilets to see the lazy, spiky brown haired teen leaning against the wall, arms folded and eyes closed.

"Heh, sorry Shika!" Naruto apologised watching the other boy slump into his usual lazy stance.

"You took almost as long as a girl would, troublesome…" Naruto knew there was an eye roll hidden in that sentence and he laughed at his friend's predictable behaviour.

"Ah, Shika, never change…never change…" He grinned happily, casually strolling along in the direction of the rest of their own little gang.

* * *

Meanwhile, a little gang of three casually sat under the shade of a big oak, sheltering from the warm September sun and, more importantly, annoying, screeching fan girls.

The obsidian eyed boy languidly leant against the trunk of the tree, some inches away from his friend who stared impassively at the ground with mesmerising pale eyes, a wire seemingly connecting the two together. The black wire trailed down to a sleek black device in the spiky haired boy's hand, where his thumb casually stroked over the visible circle. His dark eyes were clouded slightly, showing him to be deep in thought, oblivious to anyone or anything around him. The long-haired boy sat to his right, however, intently watched anything with signs of life, his beautiful, but deadly looking eyes roaming wildly, yet gracefully over their surroundings. The other member of their group sat a little further away, his well-known sunglasses still firmly fixed in place. He had his own device to listen to, as his line of sight seemed to follow a small army of ants, marching into a small crevasse in the highly dry earth.

"Something has been troubling me." A voice finally sounded out, the noise easily reaching both remaining teen's ears.

"As we have noticed, Sasuke-San." The sunglasses – clad boy stated calmly, eyes never leaving his current fascination.

"What is that blonde dobe up to." The Hyuuga boy diverted his attention to the one who had spoken again, silently questioning his friend's statement.

The raven, noticing the reactions of his friends, continued with his most recent trail of thought. "He has befriended _those_ types, yet, he seems to be making…_impressions_ on others…namely _Sai_." Sasuke frowned as he thought about his inter-mingled feelings on said blonde. He was a confusing one indeed.

"And what's more," He continued, eyes fixated on a swaying blade of grass, "he has a secret. And I plan on uncovering it." With that said he pulled the earphone from within its confines and stood swiftly, before striding off the field, just as the bell rung, signalling the end, of yet another Lunch Time, in Konoha High. The two remaining figures looked at each other. Any other person in their situation would show their expressions of great confusion, while they merely retained their unfazed features.

"Sasuke-San seems…_intrigued_." Neji commented, never before having seen his friend act this way.

"It would seem so." Shino added, as they wound up their headphones and MP3's, in silence, before walking back towards the school building.

* * *

Naruto, yet again, scowled at the teacher before him. Kabuto-Sensei, his Chemistry teacher and close friend of Orochimaru, had yet again made a mockery out of him, before lashing out a detention for the following day's lunch time. This couldn't be a fluke…not after this many times. Naruto's eyebrows knitted together as he re-counted how many times both the creepy snake teacher and his 'assistant' – as they were more commonly known – had given him detention. Not even for reasonable things! He could be sitting silently, minding his own business and someone would ask to borrow a pen, or a spare bit of notepaper and…bam! "Detention!"

The blonde had a newfound hate of that word and the way those two seemed to say it; full of amusement and with a sadistic glint in their eyes. It didn't take an idiot to realise that the two teachers were up to something, something that involved Naruto…and the worst thing was, he didn't know _how_ he played a part in this sadistic mind game.

**Flashback**

_Naruto glared at the yellow-eyed teacher's grin. This was the _third _time this Snake like teacher had given him detention for no logical reason! Plus Orochimaru had moved the blonde student away from his friends, and sat him on the front lab bench. Right in front of Orochimaru's desk._

_He sighed, glancing at the ticking clock. Another 10 minutes and he would be free._

"_It seems you aren't learning your lessons, Naruto-Kun." The young teen jumped as he heard Orochimaru's voice right behind his shoulder. Trying to recover from the shock, he decided to ignore the uncomfortable closeness and continue with the job he'd been set for punishment: re-arranging the Biology textbooks in alphabetical order. He shuddered as he felt the creepy teacher's yellow eyes watching his every move. What was wrong with this guy?! And come to think of it, Kabuto was also hanging around, too._

_After his 10 minutes were up, Naruto tried to quickly leave the room, without making eye contact. However, the teen's eyes widened a fraction as Orochimaru stopped him from leaving by swiftly catching his wrist._

"_Now, now, Naruto-Kun. I hope you'll behave in future lessons. This was a rather easy detention…and _wewill _be keeping an eye on you." At this, Naruto felt the man let him go, and he quickly hurried out of the disturbing classroom._

_That was when the blonde had come to the conclusion that they were up to something. However, he couldn't help but wonder about Orochimaru's use of the word 'we'. It seemed he wasn't just talking about himself and Kabuto…almost like a hidden message, telling him that others were watching him too…but that was absurd…right?_

**End Flashback**

"…Naruto?!" Said blonde's head jerked up, looking for whoever had called him.

"Huh?"

"You have just proved my point, thank you Uzumaki-Kun, and I'll now be seeing you in a 30 minute detention tomorrow lunch time." The (dyed) grey haired teacher smirked at Naruto. He frowned, anger rising at the injustice of being the only pupil to be picked on. He'd had enough of the two teachers playing him about. Each detention was slowly getting more difficult, or more degrading and no one else was picked out of the class constantly. Just Naruto.

"Yes _sir_." He ground out through gritted teeth.

"Tut tut, Naruto. I don't like that tone of voice. I believe you still have to learn some respect for your teachers. Maybe we need to make that detention a 50 minute _after school_?" Naruto clenched his fists, nails digging into the fleshy palms of his hands, teeth absently biting on the inside of his cheek trying to calm the rage that was surfacing.

_I _can't _get angry! I can't get angry!_

_**But he's being**_**, unfair. **_**He's**_** purposefully**_** picking on**_** you.** Another voice argued. _**It's perfectly**_** normal **_**to feel this way. **__**You**_** deserve **_**to feel angry at him.**_

_But-_

**-_No but's! Show them your anger! Make. Them. _Pay!**

As the last word echoed around the blonde's mind, his anger escalated, but not by Naruto's own will. He struggled as red swam into his eyes and felt blood fill his mouth from his teeth having punctured the skin there.

"Naruto!" Naruto could hear someone calling his name, but the voice seemed far away…almost distant. The last thought before darkness consumed him was that a lot of people seemed to be yelling at him lately.

* * *

"I want a full report of what happened! But, you _can_ assure me that no one was hurt, correct?"

Naruto groaned as voices spoke loudly near him. He opened his eyes, but shut them almost immediately; the light in the room was too bright and hurt his already pounding head.

"Ah, Naruto, you're awake." Said boy scrunched up his eyes, as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. He groaned as a pain in his cheek flared up.

"Tsunade Obaa-Chan? What happened?"

"He broke free." At this sentence Naruto's eyes snapped open.

"WHAT?!"

"Ow gaki! Try not to yell _right next to my ear!_" The young-looking blonde headteacher frowned at the teen, but her features softened as she noticed the panic on his face.

"Don't worry. No one was hurt. Thankfully Gaara was in your class and managed to deal with it."

Naruto blinked at this explanation, then looked past Tsunade to see Gaara stood there, arms folded and a look of amusement in his eyes.

"What do you mean 'deal with it'? Gaara, what did you do?"

Gaara shrugged nonchalantly.

"I knocked you out."

Once again the blonde blinked.

"…Come again?"

The red head's expression didn't falter. "I knocked you out. I saw something was wrong when you looked up at Kabuto…you had _His_ eyes. Knowing that couldn't mean anything good, I punched you quickly, successfully knocking you out and brought you here."

Naruto was sure that his mouth was hanging open by now.

"And what did the class…and Kabuto, _think_ about your actions of knocking me out?!"

"Oh, they were surprised, but I left before anyone could say anything. Hey, it was better than letting _Him_ go off on one."

"Never mind that, I'll sort it all out. Thank you Gaara. I'm glad that you two were reunited; it's much better having someone to look out for each of you in lessons. Well, now that we're through here, plus you have regained consciousness Naruto, I feel it best you go home. There's only 20 minutes left of English, so there's no point going back; it may also bring up unwanted questions! Naruto, Gaara informed me that Kabuto gave you an after school. I'll talk to him, as I know that you would be unable to attend the detention due to your work situation."

Gaara nodded to the teacher, whilst Naruto jumped from his seat and caught the woman in a hug.

"Thank you Tsunade!"

"Hai, hai. Now get off!" She mock scowled and shoed the two out of her office.

Gaara strolled out followed by a laughing Naruto.

"Wanna come to mine for a bit?" The blonde asked after his laugher had subsided. Gaara shrugged in response, Naruto, however, knew this to be his way of saying 'sure'.

"Great!" The hyperactive teen walked in a comfortable silence next to his brotherly figure, heading back to his apartment.

As the two walked, Naruto took in the appearance of the other. Gaara stood at least a foot taller than himself, as Naruto was in fact shorter than most his friends; measuring at around 5'4. The older teen's bright red hair fell naturally around his pale face, highlighting his tattoo. The tattoo he'd done _himself_. Naruto shuddered as he remembered the horrifying memory. Looking back at Gaara, Naruto noticed how his green eyes seemed cold at first glance, but actually showed many conflicting emotions that the blonde knew he wouldn't dare to show on his everyday 'emotionless' face. Next, Naruto took in his apparel; the red, short sleeved t-shirt overlapping his three-quarter-length fishnet tee. These items were accompanied by black skinnies and red chucks. Gaara finally noticed the blonde's calculating stare and raised an eyebrow in question. Naruto simply shrugged happily and re-directed his attention to where he was going and his surroundings.

As the two reached the door to the apartment, Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. Gaara looked at him, noticing the way his eyes were now wide…almost in disbelief…and maybe fear? This confused the red-head, as he knew Naruto not to be intimidated or scared of anything. Quickly re-directing his gaze to where his friend's was, Gaara instantly knew the reasoning behind Naruto's actions. The boy's door was covered in graffiti. Not just regular graffiti that wouldn't be out of place down an alleyway, or on a sign stating the name of a street. No, this graffiti was worse. It showed that somehow someone had found out about Naruto. Gaara cringed inwardly as he saw the hateful words scrawled across the wooden door.

'_Monster.'_

"How…I-" Naruto stopped abruptly as he saw the all-too-familiar graffiti logo that only one group had ever used, and _always _used. You may think it'd be idiotic to sign your vandalism, but this group had no reason to fear anyone.

"Gaara. They know I'm here."

Gaara dragged his eyes from the mess of a front door to his oddly calm friend.

"Who?"

He watched as Naruto pointed to a symbol in the right-hand corner. The simple symbol was of a musical note.

"The sound five."

* * *

Finally, the two collapsed onto Naruto's inviting couch, after scrubbing at his front door.

"Ah, damn. I have to get ready for work now Gaara! Sorry about this!" The blonde smiled apologetically as he dashed into his bedroom, to obviously get ready. He was ready in a matter of seconds and came barrelling out of the room, grabbing Gaara's wrist and dragging him out of the apartment so he could lock it up.

"I'll walk you there."

Naruto frowned at Gaara's statement.

"I can look after myself, y'know."

"Hn." Was the only reply he received. He sighed, knowing that Gaara wouldn't give in.

"Fine, but hurry. I'm late as it is, thanks to that." Naruto motioned towards the door that, if closely inspected, still contained a faint outline of the words.

"Naruto! Where have you been?! Dad's out on some business, again, Matsu's spilt soup all over the kitchen floor, Nishi almost cut off his finger and there are hungry customers waiting!" Ayame yelled as he came through the door, followed by Gaara, who, apparently was in no rush to go home yet.

"Jeez! Already?! Okay, I can handle the situation in the kitchen but…I know!" Naruto turned to look evilly at Gaara. "Seeing as you're here…and you have nothing else to do, feel like helping out for one night?"

"No."

"You!" Gaara blinked at the outburst of the seemingly nice girl known as Ayame.

"Yes?"

"If you help we'll be very grateful! We'll also give you a fair night's pay!"

Gaara sighed.

"I don't need money. But, if you add my wage to Naruto's, I may consider."

"Yes, of course!" The girl almost cried out of happiness as the red-head gave the slightest of nods, showing he was on board.

"Great! You'll be taking orders and giving them to Naruto. I'll send Nishi out to help you! Thank you!"

Gaara shook his head, inwardly sighing.

"Thanks Gaara! But, I don't need a higher wage! I'm earning enough!" Naruto frowned at his friend. He hated it when Gaara would do things like this. He hated charity.

"Stop whining. Be thankful for what you get." He frowned back at Naruto who held eye contact for mere seconds before caving.

"Fine, but I'm not happy about it."

That evening's work went off without a hitch. Even when Matsu accidentally knocked a small tub of spices into a dish Naruto was slicing ingredients for. The person who received said dish sent complements to the chef!

Naruto liked having Gaara there. It made his work seem more enjoyable, and between cooking the meals and Gaara waiting on the many tables the two had a great laugh. Ayame also liked the 'stand-in worker' and asked him to come back to work for them. He responded with a 'Hn.' And a slight move of his shoulders, which Naruto translated as an, 'I'll see.'

Even now, as Naruto walked casually back to his apartment, Gaara also tagging along (He'd made arrangements to meet Temari out front.), he felt happy. Even though his new school and new friends filled him with happiness he didn't think possible – after the painful stabs of loneliness from his previous friend's hurt eyes, cold stares…their looks showing the broken trust – something still weighed down on his shoulders. Maybe it was the thought of losing everyone again. He knew it would only take a slip-up for his secret to be revealed, resulting in abandonment once more. Like earlier in school. Naruto had lost control only for a second and that was all _He_ needed. Just a small weakness in Naruto's strong emotions.

"Naruto?" Naruto jerked his head to the side, seeing Gaara look at him oddly.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Never mind." The blonde could hear the inward sigh from his friend; it was that obvious. "See you tomorrow."

Naruto grinned and waved at both Gaara and Temari as they drove away.

* * *

Naruto fumbled with the keys as he dragged himself up the many stairs towards his apartment. The teen silently made his way down the familiar corridor, eyes fixated on the floor, his expression showing he was deep in thought. Maybe that was why he didn't notice the person stood outside his front door, leaning casually against the wall, arms folded, unreadable expression on his face; looking almost like he actually owned the place. Which was impossible; a person like _him_ couldn't live in a place like Naruto.

"Hey."

Naruto jumped at the voice, his head jerking upwards to see who the owner of the voice was. He frowned upon seeing the smirking teen.

"Don't do that you bastard! You almost gave me a heart attack!" The blonde put his hand on the skin above his heart, as if emphasising the point to the raven-haired teen. Yes, Uchiha Sasuke was currently stood outside his door.

"What? You should have been looking where you were going, idiot; you probably would have noticed me then."

Naruto glared at him, before opening his door and waltzing in, leaving it open for Sasuke to follow.

"Might I ask why you're here at 9:30?"

"Can't a guy just drop round unexpectedly to say 'hi' anymore?" He smirked, obviously enjoying annoying the other teen.

"Let me think…uh, that would be a 'no'."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I left my copy of the play here last night. Meaning that in English today I had to share with _Sakura_, because someone was absent."

At this Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, yeah, sorry 'bout that."

"I'm not an idiot. I saw what happened in Chemistry, odd as it was, I believe you owe me an explanation at least."

The blonde teen frowned. What could he say that wouldn't lead to more questions?

"Me and Gaara had a fight during lunch, and he just snapped I guess. I think he felt a little bit guilty after though…seeing as he _was _the one to take me to Tsunade."

Sasuke blinked at the obvious lying. It was irritating him to no end and what's more, he couldn't fathom the reason behind it. Why did Naruto, the idiotic loser irritate him more than anyone he'd ever met before? Why did he actually _want_ Naruto to be truthful with him? Why was his mind constantly plagued with these kinds of thoughts? And why, _why_ had he decided to walk all the way to the teen's apartment _just_ to get back his book? He could have easily ordered Naruto to bring it with him next English lesson! He frowned, absently rubbing his forehead with long pale fingers.

"Sasuke?" He looked up to see azure eyes staring back. They showed his emotions clearly; after all, eyes were the windows to the soul. Naruto was looking at him with confusion, irritation, but also something he hadn't seen in a long time, not since his mother had been there to look after him. His eyes showed a small hint of concern. This just made more thoughts swirl round Sasuke's head. Why the hell was the blonde concerned for him? They hardly knew each other! Why did he feel…happy at the concern? And most of all, why did something inside him clench painfully at the sight of those intense eyes locked with his own dark ones.

"I…uh…I've got to go…" He stuttered out. What was wrong with him?! He was stuttering?! Oh for the love of…He was an Uchiha! _Nothing_ fazed an Uchiha! And now this blonde-haired, blue-eyed teen had reduced him to stuttering?! It wasn't logical! He'd looked at Naruto so many times before, so why was this anything different?!

_Yes, you've looked at him before, but you've never actually seen him._

He frowned at the voice. And slowed his legs down. Wait. When had he started running? Stopping, the teen took in his surroundings and found himself to be not far from his house. He glared at nothing in particular and started walking once more.

* * *

Naruto blinked.

"What the hell?!" The two teens had been talking…you couldn't really say comfortably…or could you? That was the normal interaction between the two, so maybe it could be called that. Anyway, Naruto had said something to the dark haired teen, only to receive no reply. Frowning, at the lack of conversation, or insult even, Naruto had looked back at the Uchiha, only to find him massaging his forehead, slight pain showing in his eyes. Naruto, being the thoughtful guy he was, decided to ask if he had a headache; after all, he could handle headaches better than anyone. But Sasuke had looked at him, zoned out again, before stating he had to leave and sprinting off. The blonde teen had run after him some of the way, but Sasuke was just too fast.

He frowned again, now laying in bed, and pulled his duvet cover further over his body. The teen was confused. Sasuke's surprise visit had only been to get his copy of the play and he'd left without so much as an explanation, also leaving the book behind! As Naruto welcomed the warm darkness that was slowly enveloping him, he sighed. Why was Sasuke so confusing?

* * *

**_A/N: If you're wandering about the dream he has, don't take my word for the whole explanation! That's what I heard is the reason behind those types of dreams, except, in reality that's just what they are: dreams, or nightmares. In this story, however, they are something 'more'. n.n_**


	13. Chapter 13: What A Sight

**A/N:** Hey! Thank you all for your reviews and favourites! I'm really sorry this is so late! Home life really does get in the way some times: I've been so busy, and both good&bad things have happened, but I won't go into detail. I really hope you'll carry on reading! Sorry for the size of this writing also - I've been using word pad instead - no microsoft word uu

I have also started writing a new Story - the details are on my profile! I won't be posting it until this is complete though! Hope you enjoy reading! nn

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**This is How You Remind Me.**

**Chapter 13: - What A Sight**

Friday morning proved to be bitterly cold. The late September air nipped at the Blonde's face as he walked slowly to school, on time for once. He'd been thinking about Sasuke's weird behaviour from last night, replaying the conversation over in his head, to see if he'd done anything to send the other teen sprinting. It was confusing, to say the least, and Naruto hated being confused. Especially on a freezing cold, early morning.

He sighed, rubbing sleep from his eyes wearily as Konoha High loomed into sight. Hopefully today would be uneventful. Hey, a guy could hope, couldn't he?

Sliding into his seat next to Kiba and Shikamaru, his head slumped onto the table.

"Rough night?" Kiba queried, watching the cerulean-eyed teen stifle a yawn.

"Uhhn." Was all he received in reply.

"Hey, what'd you say to a movie night tonight? Everyone's coming over to mine, since my parents have left on a little, 'long-weekend holiday'!" The brunette asked excitedly.

Naruto just waved a hand in response, which Kiba took as a 'fine, whatever' sort of gesture, as he whooped loudly, and a large grin found its way onto his face.

"It's gonna be so awesome! We'll start out with horror movies, work onto action…"  
Naruto tuned out the rest of Kiba's babbling, as their form tutor, Kakashi, walked in. Naruto focused on him, thinking about his relationship with Iruka. They were quite opposite in personalities; Iruka was quite shy, but strict with a comforting nature. Kakashi was perverted, mysterious and quite an extrovert. How did they even meet?

Naruto shifted in his seat, trying to get a comfier position.  
"…so, what d'ya say?" Naruto jerked up as he felt an elbow dig in his ribcage.  
"Huh?" Kiba sighed as he realised the younger teen hadn't been listening.  
"Just be at mine around 7 tonight. Bring whatever, but remember you'll be staying." He instructed as the bell rung, signalling the beginning of first lesson.  
"Sure. Oi, what you two got first?"

"Option 2. You really should have learnt your timetable be now 'Ruto." Shikamaru slurred lazily.

"Hai, hai. Thanks Shika! So...we have History...don't we?"

The teen genius rsisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yes."

"I don't!" Was Kiba's hyper bark; much too hyper and loud for this time in the morning in Naruto and Shikamaru's opinion. "I'll see you next lesson, 'kay?"

"Yup."

Seemingly happy with their responses, Kiba ran off, leaving the other two to make their way to the History block.

History wasn't all that interesting, so Naruto and Shikamaru took a headphone each to listen to Naruto's iPod, whilst amusing themselves with random stories and made up conspiracies. Really, Shikamaru was quite a laugh when he could be bothered.

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Before too long, lunch time arrived and the gang met up in the Art Room instead, taking the freezing weather into account. Naruto dropped into a place in between Gaara and Sai, letting out a groan.

"Something wrong?" Gaara asked whilst handing Naruto a sandwich.

"No, not really, just tired." He smiled and took the offered food.

"You going to the movie night tonight Naruto-Kun?" Sai asked, not looking up from his latest doodle.

"Hmm? Yup! But I'm gonna be the first one asleep." He laughed to himself, before being glomped from behind.

"Naru-Chaaaaan! How is my little brother today?" Temari grinned happily and ruffled his hair.

"Hey Tem! Tireeed." He pretended to fall asleep on her shoulder, earning a small punch on his.

"That's what you get for staying up late, baka!"  
"But I-"  
"No excuses." And before he could protest further, the older blonde had walked off to see Tenten.

Naruto pouted, "Women."

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Last lesson for today was English. Which meant Sakura and Sasuke. This was going to be fun.

Walking in through the door, Naruto saw that his partners were already there. He did the normal routine of getting things out of his bag, once sat down, whislt 'Mr Hatake' told them to continue with their projects, eyes glued to the little book in his hand.

"Glad you could join us, _dobe_." The dark haired teen smirked, the smirk that infuriated Naruto.

"Glad to be here teme." The blonde challenged back.

"Don't be mean to Sasuke-Kun, baka!"

And so it began. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Look, I really can't be bothered to argue. Let's work on this play and avoid talk of anything else, 'kay?" He felt a grin creep on his face as the Uchiha frowned.

"Good!" Squeeled the only girl in the group. Really, could her voice be any more annoying?

"Oh, Sasuke, I have your book." Digging in his bag, he pulled out the teen's copy of the play, which was now slightly scuffed at the edges.

"Hn."

The rest of the lesson went without a hitch, until everyone was leaving. Naruto was just about to go, when someone grabbed his arm, effectively keeping him in place. Warm breath fell on his neck and he felt himself squirm slightly under the sensation. The presence behind him got closer, until he could practically hear them breathing.

"Thanks...for the book, Naruto." Naruto's bright blue eyes widened in shock. Sasuke thanking him was scary enough, but, the way he was doing it...Naruto shivered, turning his face a fraction, to see obsidian eyes studying his face intently.

"Um...n-no problem, Sasuke."

As if only just realising what he was doing, the older teen let go of the younger one's arm, grabbed his bag and walked off into the crowd, leaving a very confused boy in his wake.

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"No! We've seen that one, like, a hundred times already!" Ino's voice carried from Kiba's living room to the Kitchen, where Naruto, Chouji and Tenten were making a random assortment of snacks for the hungry people next room over.

Kiba growled unhappily, "But it's an awesome film! Right Shika? Oi, Shika?!"

The brunette in question was currently sprawled out on the couch, eyes closed.

"Ah, youthful friends! Don't argue! We should all decide on one film! Or, pick one the fairest way possible!" An excited Lee exclaimed.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Tenten chirped from the kitchen, knife in her hand pausing from cutting up cucumber.

Lee smiled widely, producing a bag of M&M's from somewhere. "We give a film a colour, then each pick a sweet at random, and the modal colour wins! YOSH!"

"Fine." Kiba and Ino sighed in defeat.

Once a film had been picked and snacks were out for the taking, the group of eight - Kiba, Naruto, Ino, Gaara, Sai, Shikamaru, Hinata, Lee, Chouji, Tenten - (Kankuro and Temari were otherwise occupied) snuggled in their sleeping bags to watch the film. As the film reached almost halfway, the blue-eyed blonde felt his eyes droop, and before he knew it, he was asleep; true to his word, he was the first.

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**A/N: Hope you enjoyed! It is kind of like a filler, sorry, but it's necessary!**


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